ArticleLab on a chip2020
Partial thermal imidization of polyelectrolyte multilayer cell tethering surfaces (TetherChip) enables efficient cell capture and microtentacle fixation for circulating tumor cell analysis.
Article in Lab on a chip, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Melanoma cell adhesion molecule (MCAM) mediates microtentacle generation, homotypic clustering, and reattachment of non-adherent breast tumor cells.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2026Article
- Clinical and translational roles of circulating tumor cells in non-small cell and small cell lung cancer: a narrative review.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Review
- The Pro-Metastatic Roles of ROS.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The Impact of Combretastatin A-4 on Cancer Cells and Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs): A Multi-Assay Approach.Oncology research · 2026Article
- Repurposing Artesunate to Combat Progression and Metastasis via Targeting Circulating Tumor Cells.Oncology research · 2026Article
- Tubulin-Based Microtentacles Aid in Heterotypic Clustering of Neutrophil-Differentiated HL-60 Cells and Breast Tumor Cells.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Ectopic Expression of a Truncated Isoform of Hair Keratin 81 in Breast Cancer Alters Biophysical Characteristics to Promote Metastatic Propensity.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- High-Efficiency Inertial Separation of Microparticles Using Elevated Columned Reservoirs and Vortex Technique for Lab-on-a-Chip Applications.ACS omega · 2023Article
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- Recent Advances in Methods for Circulating Tumor Cell Detection.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Elevation of Cytoplasmic Calcium Suppresses Microtentacle Formation and Function in Breast Tumor Cells.Cancers · 2023Article
- Magnetically-actuated microcages for cells entrapment, fabricated by laser direct writing via two photon polymerization.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2023Article
- Microtubule disruption reduces metastasis more effectively than primary tumor growth.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2022Article
- Polyelectrolyte Gels: Fundamentals, Fabrication and Applications.Gels (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Detection of EGFR Mutations in cfDNA and CTCs, and Comparison to Tumor Tissue in Non-Small-Cell-Lung-Cancer (NSCLC) Patients.Frontiers in oncology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The technical challenges of imaging non-adherent tumor cells pose a critical barrier to understanding tumor cell responses to the non-adherent microenvironments of metastasis, like the bloodstream or lymphatics. In this study, we optimized a microfluidic device (TetherChip) engineered to prevent cell adhesion with an optically-clear, thermal-crosslinked polyelectrolyte multilayer nanosurface and a terminal lipid layer that simultaneously tethers the cell membrane for improved spatial immobilization. Thermal imidization of the TetherChip nanosurface on commercially-available microfluidic slides allows up to 98% of tumor cell capture by the lipid tethers. Importantly, time-lapse microscopy demonstrates that unique microtentacles on non-adherent tumor cells are rapidly destroyed during chemical fixation, but tethering microtentacles to the TetherChip surface efficiently preserves microtentacle structure post-fixation and post-blood isolation. TetherChips remain stable for more than 6 months, enabling shipment to distant sites. The broad retention capability of TetherChips allows comparison of multiple tumor cell types, revealing for the first time that carcinomas beyond breast cancer form microtentacles in suspension. Direct integration of TetherChips into the Vortex VTX-1 CTC isolation instrument shows that live CTCs from blood samples are efficiently captured on TetherChips for rapid fixation and same-day immunofluorescence analysis. Highly efficient and unbiased label-free capture of CTCs on a surface that allows rapid chemical fixation also establishes a streamlined clinical workflow to stabilize patient tumor cell samples and minimize analytical variables. While current studies focus primarily on CTC enumeration, this microfluidic device provides a novel platform for functional phenotype testing in CTCs with the ultimate goal of identifying anti-metastatic, patient-specific therapies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.