Fluorescence Labeling of Circulating Tumor Cells with a Folate Receptor-Targeted Molecular Probe for Diffuse In Vivo Flow Cytometry.

PURPOSE: We recently developed a new instrument called "diffuse in vivo flow cytometry" (DiFC) for enumeration of rare fluorescently labeled circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in small animals without drawing blood samples. Until now, we have used cell lines that express fluorescent proteins or were pre-labeled with a fluorescent dye ex vivo. In this work, we investigated the use of a folate receptor (FR)-targeted fluorescence molecular probe for in vivo labeling of FR+ CTCs for DiFC. PROCEDURES: We used EC-17, a FITC-folic acid conjugate that has been used in clinical trials for fluorescence-guided surgery. We studied the affinity of EC-17 for FR+ L1210A and KB cancer cells. We also tested FR- MM.1S cells. We tested the labeling specificity in cells in culture in vitro and in whole blood. We also studied the detectability of labeled cells in mice in vivo with DiFC. RESULTS: EC-17 showed a high affinity for FR+ L1210A and KB cells in vitro. In whole blood, 85.4 % of L1210A and 80.9 % of KB cells were labeled above non-specific background with EC-17, and negligible binding to FR- MM.1S cells was observed. In addition, EC-17-labeled CTCs were readily detectable in circulation in mice with DiFC. CONCLUSIONS: This work demonstrates the feasibility of labeling CTCs with a cell-surface receptor-targeted probe for DiFC, greatly expanding the potential utility of the method for pre-clinical animal models. Because DiFC uses diffuse light, this method could be also used to enumerate CTCs in larger animal models and potentially even in humans.

Homogeneous label-free protein binding assay using small-molecule-labeled DNA nanomachine with DNAzyme-Based chemiluminescence detection.

Detecting the interactions between small molecules and proteins was critical for disease theranostics and drug development. Here we propose a novel universal assay strategy for monitoring small molecule-protein interactions in solution using strand displacement amplification (SDA) mediated by protein binding to small molecule with DNAzyme-based chemiluminescence detection. The DNA polymerase and nicking enzyme assisted SDA could yield a great amount of peroxidase-mimicking DNAzyme sequences which cause significantly chemiluminescence signals, while protein binding to the small molecule label would prevent DNA polymerase from extending nick site and DNAzyme sequence, and thus the chemiluminescence signals would obviously decrease. This strategy was demonstrated using folate and its binding protein (folate receptor), and the results revealed that the developed strategy enable offer a label-free, homogeneous, and highly sensitive chemiluminescence detection of folate receptor with a detection limit of 1pM. At the same time, it has been successfully used for folate receptor detection in human serum. The proposed chemiluminescence sensing method might provide a generic, robust, and high-throughput platform for detecting various small molecule-protein interactions for biological applications.

Laboratory assessment of folate (vitamin B9) status.

Folate (vitamin B9) plays a crucial role in fundamental cellular processes, including nucleic acid biosynthesis, methyl group biogenesis and amino acid metabolism. The detection and correction of folate deficiency prevents megaloblastic anaemia and reduces the risk of neural tube defects. Coexisting deficiencies of folate and vitamin B12 are associated with cognitive decline, depression and neuropathy. Folate deficiency and excess has also been implicated in some cancers. Excessive exposure to folic acid, a synthetic compound used in supplements and fortified foods, has also been linked to adverse health effects. Of at least three distinct laboratory markers of folate status, it is the total abundance of folate in serum/plasma that is used by the majority of laboratories. The analysis of folate in red cells is also commonly performed. Since the folate content of red cells is fixed during erythropoiesis, this marker is indicative of folate status over the preceding ~4 months. Poor stability, variation in polyglutamate chain length and unreliable extraction from red cells are factors that make the analysis of folate challenging. The clinical use of measuring specific folate species has also been explored. 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate, the main form of folate found in blood, is essential for the vitamin B12-dependent methionine synthase mediated remethylation of homocysteine to methionine. As such, homocysteine measurement reflects cellular folate and vitamin B12 use. When interpreting homocysteine results, age, sex and pregnancy, specific reference ranges should be applied. The evaluation of folate status using combined markers of abundance and cellular use has been adopted by some laboratories. In the presence of discordance between laboratory results and strong clinical features of deficiency, treatment should not be delayed. High folate status should be followed up with the assessment of vitamin B12 status, a review of previous results and reassessment of folic acid supplementation regime.

Label-free femtomolar cancer biomarker detection in human serum using graphene-coated surface plasmon resonance chips.

Sensitive and selective detection of cancer biomarkers is vital for the successful diagnosis of early stage cancer and follow-up treatment. Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) in combination with different amplification strategies is one of the analytical approaches allowing the screening of protein biomarkers in serum. Here we describe the development of a point-of-care sensor for the detection of folic acid protein (FAP) using graphene-based SPR chips. The exceptional properties of CVD graphene were exploited to construct a highly sensitive and selective SPR chip for folate biomarker sensing in serum. The specific recognition of FAP is based on the interaction between folic acid receptors integrated through π-stacking on the graphene coated SPR chip and the FAP analyte in serum. A simple post-adsorption of human serum:bovine serum albumin (HS:BSA) mixtures onto the folic acid modified sensor resulted in a highly anti-fouling interface, while keeping the sensing capabilities for folate biomarkers. This sensor allowed femtomolar (fM) detection of FAP, a detection limit well adapted and promising for quantitative clinical analysis.

[Diagnostic Value of Folate Receptor-positive Circulating Tumor Cell in Lung Cancer: A Pilot Study].

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to determine the efficacy and feasibility of a novel folate receptor (FR)-based circulating tumor cell (CTC) detection method in the diagnosis of lung cancer. CTCs were collected from 3 mL of blood based on negative enrichment by immunomagnetic beads and then labeled by a conjugate of a tumor-specific ligand folate and an oligonucleotide. METHODS: After washing off redundant conjugates, the bound conjugates were removed and analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The CTC levels of 97 patients with lung cancer were significantly higher than that of the controls (18 patients with benign lung diseases; P<0.001). With a threshold of 8.7 Folate units, the method showed a sensitivity of 82.5% and a specificity of 72.2% in the diagnosis of lung cancer, especially a sensitivity of 86.8% in stage I disease. Compared with the existing clinical biomarkers such as neuron-specific enolase (NSE), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and CYFRA21-1, the method showed the highest diagnostic efficiency in lung cancer (area under the curve, 0.859; 95%CI: 0.779-0.939) and stage I lung cancer (area under the curve, 0.912; 95%CI: 0.829-0.994). For future work, the CTC levels of 5 lung cancer patients higher than 8.7 Folate units/3 mL in their postoperation. CONCLUSIONS: FR-positive CTCs were feasible diagnostic biomarkers in patients with lung cancer, as well as in early-stage tumors.

Electrochemical detection of protein by using magnetic graphene-based target enrichment and copper nanoparticles-assisted signal amplification.

In this paper, we propose a new method for protein detection by making use of magnetic graphene for enrichment and separation of the targets and duplex DNA-templated copper nanoparticles for amplification of electrochemical signals. Because the binding of the target protein (e.g. folate receptor) and small molecule (e.g. folate) can protect complementary DNA (cDNA) from exonuclease III-catalyzed degradation, duplex DNA from the hybridization of probe DNA and cDNA can act as the template for the formation of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs). Afterward, CuNPs-coated DNA can be enriched on the surface of magnetic graphene through the 3'-overhanging end of probe DNA, and then separated from the reaction mixture with the aid of magnet. As a result, copper ions released from acid-dissolution of CuNPs can catalyze the oxidation of o-phenylenediamine (OPD) by dissolved oxygen, resulting in an amplified electrochemical response. Our method can sensitively detect target protein over a wide linear range and with a low detection limit of 7.8 pg mL(-1), which can easily distinguish the targets even in complex serum samples. Therefore, this method may be promising for the clinical diagnosis of protein biomarkers by changing the recognition elements in the future.

Folate Receptor-Positive Circulating Tumor Cell Detected by LT-PCR-Based Method as a Diagnostic Biomarker for Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

INTRODUCTION: To investigate the diagnostic performance of folate receptor-positive circulating tumor cells in distinguishing non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from lung benign disease by using a novel ligand-targeted polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection technique. METHODS: Circulating tumor cells were enriched from 3-ml peripheral blood by immunomagnetic depletion of leukocytes and then labeled with a conjugate of a tumor-specific ligand folic acid and a synthesized oligonucleotide. After washing off free conjugates, the stripped bound conjugates were analyzed by quantitative PCR. RESULTS: Seven hundred fifty-six participants (473 patients with NSCLC, 227 patients with lung benign disease, and 56 healthy donors) were randomly assigned to a training set and a test set. The circulating tumor cell (CTC) levels in patients with NSCLC were significant higher than those with lung benign disease (p < 0.001) and healthy donors (p < 0.001). Compared with carcinoembryonic antigen, neuron-specific enolase, and Cyfra21-1, CTCs displayed the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (training set, 0.815; validation set, 0.813) in the diagnosis of NSCLC, with a markedly sensitivity (training set, 72.46%; validation set, 76.37%) and specificity (training set, 88.65%; validation set, 82.39%). The model combining CTCs with carcinoembryonic antigen, neuron-specific enolase, and Cyfra21-1 was more effective for the diagnosis of NSCLC than tumor makers alone (sensitivity and specificity in the training set, 84.21% and 83.91%; validation set, 88.78% and 87.36%, respectively). In addition, the CTC levels were higher in patients with stage III/IV NSCLC compared with those with stage I/II disease. CONCLUSION: Ligand-targeted PCR technique was feasible and reliable for detecting folate receptor-positive CTCs in patients with NSCLC, and CTC levels could be used as a useful biomarker for the diagnosis of NSCLC.

Label-free and dual-amplified detection of protein via small molecule-ligand linked DNA and a cooperative DNA machine.

Sensitive detection of protein is essential for both molecular diagnostics and biomedical research. Here, taking folate receptor as the model analyte, we developed a label-free and dual-amplified strategy via small molecular-ligand linked DNA and a cooperative DNA machine which could perform primary amplification and mediate secondary amplification simultaneously. Firstly, the specific binding of folate receptor to the small-molecule folate which linked to a trigger DNA could protect the trigger DNA from exonuclease I digestion, translating folate receptor detection into trigger DNA detection. Subsequently, trigger DNA initiated the DNA machine through hybridizing with the hairpin of the DNA machine, resulting in hairpin conformational change and stem open. The open stem further hybridized with a primer which initiated circular strand-displacement polymerization reaction; meanwhile the rolling circle amplification templates which were initially blocked in the DNA machine were liberated to mediate rolling circle amplification. In such a working model, the DNA machine achieved cooperatively controlling circular strand-displacement polymerization reaction and rolling circle amplification, realizing dual-amplification. Finally, the rolling circle amplification process synthesized a long repeated G-quadruplex sequence, which strongly interacted with N-methyl mesoporphyrin IX, bringing label-free fluorescence signal. This strategy could detect folate receptor as low as 0.23 pM. A recovery over 90% was obtained when folate receptor was detected in spiked human serum, demonstrating the feasibility of this detection strategy in biological samples.

A ratiometric colorimetric detection of the folate receptor based on terminal protection of small-molecule-linked DNA.

Development of strategies for the sensitive and selective detection of the folate receptor (FR) that are simple and low cost is of great importance for assessing cancer therapeutics due to its crucial role in physiological, pharmacological and pathological processes. In this paper, gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-based novel ratiometric colorimetry for the detection of the folate receptor (FR) is proposed based on terminal protection of small-molecule-linked DNA. The single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) terminally tethered to folic acid (FA) is protected from degradation by exonuclease I (Exo I) when the FA moiety is bound to FR. The hybridization between FR-protected DNA and DNA-functionalized Au NPs generated a red-to-purple colour change, allowing the visual detection of FR. The detection limit of FR can be as low as 0.33 ng mL(-1) with the naked eye. It provides a promising strategy for visual detection of the binding event of FA to its protein receptor-FR with advantages such as simplicity, high selectivity, and a wide linear range.

Electrochemical detection of protein based on hybridization chain reaction-assisted formation of copper nanoparticles.

In this paper, we report an electrochemical method for highly sensitive and specific detection of protein based on hybridization chain reaction (HCR)-assisted formation of copper nanoparticles by using small molecule such as folate-linked DNA as probe. In the presence of target protein, taking folate receptor (FR) as the model protein in this study, its binding with folate can protect the probe DNA from exonuclease I-catalyzed degradation, thus the probe DNA can be immobilized onto the electrode surface through the hybridization with capture DNA, triggering HCR on the electrode surface. Subsequently, copper nanoparticles can be formed on the electrode surface by using long duplex DNA oligomers from HCR as templates. Furthermore, copper ions released from acid-dissolution of copper nanoparticles can catalyze the oxidation of ο-phenylenediamine by dissolved oxygen, leading to significant electrochemical responses. As a result, our method can sensitively detect FR in the linear range from 0.01ng/mL to 100ng/mL with a detection limit of 3pg/mL. It can also specifically distinguish the target protein in both buffer and complex serum samples. Since many other proteins can be assayed by changing the corresponding small molecule, this method may be promising for the development of the technique for protein detections.

Terminal protection of small molecule-linked ssDNA for label-free and sensitive fluorescent detection of folate receptor.

In this work, based on terminal protection of folate-linked ssDNA (FA-ssDNA) and the SYBR Gold fluorescent dye, we describe the development of a label-free fluorescent strategy for the detection of folate receptors (FRs). The binding between the target FR and the FA moiety of the FA-ssDNA protects the FR bound FA-ssDNA from digesting by Exo I. The binding of SYBR Gold to the terminal protected, un-digested FA-ssDNA leads to enhanced fluorescent emission for the monitoring of FR with a detection limit of 30 pM. Besides, the developed method also shows high selectivity toward FR against other control proteins. Moreover, our approach avoids the labeling of the probes with fluorescent tags and achieves label-free detection of FR. With these advantages, the proposed method thus holds promising potential for the development of simple and convenient strategies for the detection of other proteins by using different small molecule receptor/protein ligand pairs.