Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs)
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cells that have been shed from a tumor and entered the blood circulation. Following adaptation and colonization of the microenvironment of a secondary site they form metastases which are responsible for over 90% of tumor-related deaths. CTCs, obtained through a simple blood draw, can serve as a “liquid biopsy” to monitor tumor characteristics in real-time, including inter- and intra-tumor heterogeneity. However, CTC isolation and subsequent characterization are technically challenging due to the low CTC cell numbers among an abundance of white and red blood cells. A wide range of analytical methods for CTC detection, enrichment and isolation has been developed. They exploit CTC-specific properties such as surface marker expression or e.g., size, density or deformability.
Sartorius offers a unique and complete solution for detection and isolation of CTCs after enrichment and staining steps. Cells isolated can then be used for DNA, RNA or proteome analysis. This solution is centered around the CellCelector system utilizing specifically developed consumables (e. g. CellCelector Nanowell arrays, MagnetPick slides) and validated protocols.
The CellCelector used within a typical CTC isolation and analysis workflow. * Red blood cell (RBC) lysis is optional and depends on the used enrichment technology; **Certain enrichment technologies allow in-situ staining after enrichment; in other cases, the staining should be done after retrieving the sample from the enrichment device.
As demonstrated in numerous publications the CellCelector platform is compatible with a variety of upstream enrichment technologies:
Positive immuno-magnetic enrichment (based on EpCAM surface markers and others): e.g., CellSearch®, Isoflux™, MagSweeper™
Negative depletion of white blood cells (WBCs) based on CD45 surface markers: e.g., Dynabeads™, RosetteSep™
Label-free separation based on microfluidics or filters: e.g., Parsortix™, Clearbridge™, Vortex™, ScreenCell™, RareCells™, Circulogix™ etc.
The CellCelector workflows and consumables allow handling of up to several hundred thousand of blood cells per sample without the need for sample volume reduction.
Enrichment Technologies
References
Positive Immuno Magnetic
CellSearch® (EpCAM)
Neumann et al., 2016
Isoflux™ (EpCAM)
Ma et al., 2016; Cabezas-Camarero et al., 2019; Nimir et al., 2019; Ding et al., 2019
MagSweeper™ (EpCAM)
Lohr et al., 2014
Dynabeads and hand-held magnet (rVAR2)
Agerbæk et al., 2018; Bang-Christensen et al., 2019
CD45 Negative Depletion
Dynabeads® CD45/Dynal® MPC®-S
Blassl et al., 2016
RosetteSep™ Human CD45
Yao et al., 2014
Size-based Separation
Parsortix™
Lampignano et al., 2017; Szczerba et al., 2019; Gkountela et al., 2019; Reinhardt et al., 2019; Donato et al., 2019
Density Gradient Centrifugation
OncoQuick™
Heidary et al., 2014
CTC enrichment technologies used prior to the CellCelector single cell isolation and corresponding published papers (full article references can be found on the Publications page).
Breast
Heidary et al., 2014; Schneck et al., 2015; Neumann et al., 2016; Lampignano et al., 2017; Szczerba et al., 2019; Gkountela et al., 2019; Reinhardt et al., 2019; Sprouse et al., 2019
Prostate
Lohr et al., 2014; Ma et al., 2016; Nimir et al., 2019
Colorectal
Adalsteinsson et al., 2013; Cabezas-Camarero et al., 2019
Pancreatic
Kim et al., 2019
Ovarian
Lung
Yao et al., 2014; Ding et al., 2019
Brain
Melanoma
Sprouse et al., 2019
The CellCelector technology is capable to isolate pure single tumor cells from liquid biopsies of any cancer type. Leading cancer centers throughout the world using the CellCelector system are working on developments in numerous cancer entities and application areas.
Low aspiration and dispensing volumes for seamless compatibility with all single cell WGA and qRT-PCR kits
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