Selective Detection of Human Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells Based on the Aptamer-Conjugated Self-Assembled Monolayer of Gold Nanoparticles

• Published in: Micromachines (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 3; p. 195
• Main Authors: Nguyen, Ngoc-Viet, Jen, Chun-Ping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 19.03.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: aptamer; Biosensors; circulating tumor cells; Design; Electrodes; Fluorescence; Glass substrates; Gold; gold nanoparticles (AuNPs); Lung cancer; Mechanical properties; Microelectrodes; Microfluidics; Monolayers; Nanomaterials; Nanoparticles; Photolithography; self-assembled monolayer (SAM); Self-assembled monolayers; Self-assembly; lung cancer; circulating tumor cells; gold nanoparticles (AuNPs); aptamer; self-assembled monolayer (SAM)
• ISSN: 2072-666X; 2072-666X
• DOI: 10.3390/mi10030195

This study established a microfluidic chip for the capture of A549 human lung circulating tumor cells via the aptamer-conjugated self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the channel. AuNPs are among the most attractive nanomaterials for the signal enhancement of biosensors owing to their unique chemical, physical, and mechanical properties. The microchip was fabricated using soft photolithography and casting and molding techniques. A self-assembly method was designed to attach AuNPs, cell-specific aptamers, and target cells onto the desired area (i.e., SAM area). In this study, the gold microelectrode configuration was characterized by fluorescence microscopy and impedance measurements to confirm the important modification steps. Subsequently, several investigations with the proposed assay were conducted with different cell samples to determine the specific binding ability of the device for A549 adenocarcinoma cancer cells. This work has ensured a simple, convenient, selective, and sensitive approach for the development of biosensors for lung cancer detection during the early stages.