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Immunomagnetic separation in a novel cavity-added serpentine microchannel structure for the selective isolation of lung adenocarcinoma cells

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Abstract

The manipulation and separation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in continuous fluidic flows play an essential role in various biomedical applications, particularly the early diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Recent advances in magnetic bead development have provided promising solutions to the challenges encountered in CTC manipulation and isolation. In this study, we proposed a biomicrofluidic platform for specifically isolating human lung carcinoma A549 cells in microfluidic channels. The principle of separation was based on the effect of the magnetic field on aptamer-conjugated magnetic beads, also known as immunomagnetic beads, in a serpentine microchannel with added cavities (SMAC). The magnetic cell separation performance of the proposed structure was modeled and simulated by using COMSOL Multiphysics. The experimental procedures for aptamer molecular conjugation on 1.36 µm-diameter magnetic beads and magnetic bead immobilization on A549 cells were also reported. The lung carcinoma cell–bead complexes were then experimentally separated by an external magnetic field. Separation performance was also confirmed by optical microscopic observations and fluorescence analysis, which showed the high selectivity and efficiency of the proposed system in the isolation and capture of A549 cells in our proposed SMAC. At the flow rate of 5 µL/s, the capture rate of human lung carcinoma cells exceeded 70% in less than 15 min, whereas that of the nontarget cells was approximately 4%. The proposed platform demonstrated its potential for high selectivity, portability, and facile operation, which are suitable considerations for developing point-of-care applications for various biological and clinical purposes.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Vietnam Ministry of Science and Technology under Grant NĐT.101.TW/21 as well as the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of China (Taiwan), under grant numbers MOST 109-2221-E-194-011-MY2 and MOST 109-2923-E-194-002-MY3

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  1. Hien Vu-Dinh and Loc Do Quang are equally contributed as the First Author

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Advanced Institute of Manufacturing for High-Tech Innovations, National Chung Cheng University, Chia-Yi, 62102, Taiwan

    Hien Vu-Dinh & Chun-Ping Jen

  2. Faculty of Physics, VNU University of Science, Hanoi, 100000, Vietnam

    Loc Do Quang

  3. Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications, VNU University of Engineering and Technology, Hanoi, 100000, Vietnam

    Ching Chun Chang, Cuong Nguyen Nhu, Hang Tran Thanh, Tung Thanh Bui & Trinh Chu Duc

  4. School of Dentistry, College of Dental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan

    Chun-Ping Jen

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  1. Hien Vu-Dinh
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Vu-Dinh, H., Do Quang, L., Chang, C.C. et al. Immunomagnetic separation in a novel cavity-added serpentine microchannel structure for the selective isolation of lung adenocarcinoma cells. Biomed Microdevices 23, 51 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-021-00589-6

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