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Vardas V, Ju JA, Christopoulou A, Xagara A, Georgoulias V, Kotsakis A, Alix-Panabières C, Martin SS, Kallergi G. Functional Analysis of Viable Circulating Tumor Cells from Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Patients Using TetherChip Technology. Cells 2023; 12:1940. [PMID: 37566019 PMCID: PMC10416943 DOI: 10.3390/cells12151940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Revised: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Metastasis, rather than the growth of the primary tumor, accounts for approximately 90% of breast cancer patient deaths. Microtentacles (McTNs) formation represents an important mechanism of metastasis. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive subtype with limited targeted therapies. The present study aimed to isolate viable circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and functionally analyze them in response to drug treatment. CTCs from 20 TNBC patients were isolated and maintained in culture for 5 days. Biomarker expression was identified by immunofluorescence staining and VyCap analysis. Vinorelbine-induced apoptosis was evaluated based on the detection of M30-positive cells. Our findings revealed that the CTC absolute number significantly increased using TetherChips analysis compared to the number of CTCs in patients' cytospins (p = 0.006) providing enough tumor cells for drug evaluation. Vinorelbine treatment (1 h) on live CTCs led to a significant induction of apoptosis (p = 0.010). It also caused a significant reduction in Detyrosinated α-tubulin (GLU), programmed death ligand (PD-L1)-expressing CTCs (p < 0.001), and disruption of McTNs. In conclusion, this pilot study offers a useful protocol using TetherChip technology for functional analysis and evaluation of drug efficacy in live CTCs, providing important information for targeting metastatic dissemination at a patient-individualized level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vasileios Vardas
- Laboratory of Biochemistry/Metastatic Signaling, Section of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, Department of Biology, University of Patras, GR-26504 Patras, Greece;
| | - Julia A. Ju
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; (J.A.J.); (S.S.M.)
| | | | - Anastasia Xagara
- Laboratory of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, GR-41110 Larissa, Greece; (A.X.); (A.K.)
| | | | - Athanasios Kotsakis
- Laboratory of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, GR-41110 Larissa, Greece; (A.X.); (A.K.)
- Department of Medical Oncology, University General Hospital of Larissa, GR-41110 Larissa, Greece
| | - Catherine Alix-Panabières
- Laboratory of Rare Human Circulating Cells (LCCRH), University Medical Center of Montpellier, 34295 Montpellier, France;
- CREEC/CANECEV, MIVEGEC (CREES), Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, 34090 Montpellier, France
- European Liquid Biopsy Society (ELBS), 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Stuart S. Martin
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; (J.A.J.); (S.S.M.)
| | - Galatea Kallergi
- Laboratory of Biochemistry/Metastatic Signaling, Section of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, Department of Biology, University of Patras, GR-26504 Patras, Greece;
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Raillon C, Che J, Thill S, Duchamp M, Desbiolles BXE, Millet A, Sollier E, Renaud P. Toward Microfluidic Label-Free Isolation and Enumeration of Circulating Tumor Cells from Blood Samples. Cytometry A 2019; 95:1085-1095. [PMID: 31364817 DOI: 10.1002/cyto.a.23868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2019] [Revised: 07/15/2019] [Accepted: 07/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The isolation, analysis, and enumeration of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from cancer patient blood samples are a paradigm shift for cancer patient diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment monitoring. Most methods used to isolate and enumerate these target cells rely on the expression of cell surface markers, which varies between patients, cancer types, tumors, and stages. Here, we propose a label-free high-throughput platform to isolate, enumerate, and size CTCs on two coupled microfluidic devices. Cancer cells were purified through a Vortex chip and subsequently flowed in-line to an impedance chip, where a pair of electrodes measured fluctuations of an applied electric field generated by cells passing through. A proof-of-concept of the coupling of those two devices was demonstrated with beads and cells. First, the impedance chip was tested as a stand-alone device: (1) with beads (mean counting error of 1.0%, sizing information clearly separated three clusters for 8, 15, and 20 um beads, respectively) as well as (2) with cancer cells (mean counting error of 3.5%). Second, the combined setup was tested with beads, then with cells in phosphate-buffered saline, and finally with cancer cells spiked in healthy blood. Experiments demonstrated that the Vortex HT chip enriched the cancer cells, which then could be counted and differentiated from smaller blood cells by the impedance chip based on size information. Further discrimination was shown with dual high-frequency measurements using electric opacity, highlighting the potential application of this combined setup for a fully integrated label-free isolation and enumeration of CTCs from cancer patient samples. © 2019 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camille Raillon
- STI-IMT-LMIS4, EPFL, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Vortex Biosciences, Inc., Pleasanton, California, 94588
| | - James Che
- Vortex Biosciences, Inc., Pleasanton, California, 94588
| | - Sandy Thill
- STI-IMT-LMIS4, EPFL, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Arnaud Millet
- Team Mechanobiology, Immunity and Cancer, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, INSERM U1209 CNRS UMR5309, Grenoble, France.,Grenoble Alpes University, Grenoble, France
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Ory EC, Chen D, Chakrabarti KR, Zhang P, Andorko JI, Jewell CM, Losert W, Martin SS. Extracting microtentacle dynamics of tumor cells in a non-adherent environment. Oncotarget 2017; 8:111567-111580. [PMID: 29340075 PMCID: PMC5762343 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.22874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2016] [Accepted: 11/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
During metastasis, tumor cells dynamically change their cytoskeleton to traverse through a variety of non-adherent microenvironments, including the vasculature or lymphatics. Due to the challenges of imaging drift in non-adhered tumor cells, the dynamic cytoskeletal phenotypes are poorly understood. We present a new approach to analyze the dynamic cytoskeletal phenotypes of non-adhered cells that support microtentacles (McTNs), which are cell surface projections implicated in metastatic reattachment. Combining a recently-developed cell tethering method with a novel image analysis framework allowed McTN attribute extraction. Full cell outlines, number of McTNs, and distance of McTN tips from the cell body boundary were calculated by integrating a rotating anisotropic filtering method for identifying thin features with retinal segmentation and active contour algorithms. Tethered cells behave like free-floating cells; however tethering reduces cell drift and improves the accuracy of McTN measurements. Tethering cells does not significantly alter McTN number, but rather allows better visualization of existing McTNs. In drug treatment experiments, stabilizing tubulin with paclitaxel significantly increases McTN length, while destabilizing tubulin with colchicine significantly decreases McTN length. Finally, we quantify McTN dynamics by computing the time delay autocorrelations of 2 composite phenotype metrics (cumulative McTN tip distance, cell perimeter:cell body ratio). Our automated analysis demonstrates that treatment with paclitaxel increases total McTN amount and colchicine reduces total McTN amount, while paclitaxel also reduces McTN dynamics. This analysis method enables rapid quantitative measurement of tumor cell drug responses within non-adherent microenvironments, using the small numbers of tumor cells that would be available from patient samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor C. Ory
- Department of Physics, IPST, and IREAP, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum NCI Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Desu Chen
- Department of Physics, IPST, and IREAP, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Kristi R. Chakrabarti
- Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum NCI Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Peipei Zhang
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - James I. Andorko
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Christopher M. Jewell
- Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum NCI Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
- United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Wolfgang Losert
- Department of Physics, IPST, and IREAP, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum NCI Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Stuart S. Martin
- Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum NCI Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
- Department of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
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