Micro+nanotexturing of substrates to enhance ligand-assisted cancer cell isolation

This paper presents a simple approach to create a two-tiered surface for superior cancer cell isolation. The idea is inspired by the interactions of cells with a nanotextured basement membrane. The texture mimicked the extracellular matrix and basement membrane for superior target cell adhesion. Prepared micro+nanotextured surfaces showed enhanced cell capture. Preparation of the two-tiered surface was done using micro- and nanotexturing and was easily reproducible. It has been shown before that the larger surface area of a nanotextured surface assists the cell’s attachment through surface-anchored ligands. Taking it a step further, ligand functionalized two-level micro+nanotextured surfaces improved the sensitivity of the cancer cell isolation over simple flat nanotexturing. The isolation efficiency increased by 208% compared to the surface with a single-level nanotexture. The two-tiered surface was compatible with previously reported nanotextured devices used for cancer cell is...

Mohammed Arif I Mahmood, Yuan Wan, Muhymin Islam, Waqas Ali, Madiha Hanif, Young-tae Kim and Samir M Iqbal

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