Scanning Electron Microscopy of Circulating Tumor Cells and Tumor-Derived Extracellular Vesicles.

ABSTRACT: To explore morphological features of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (tdEVs), we developed a protocol for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of CTCs and tdEVs. CTCs and tdEVs were isolated by immunomagnetic enrichment based on their Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule (EpCAM) expression or by physical separation through 5 μm microsieves from 7.5 mL of blood from Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (CRPC) patients. Protocols were optimized using blood samples of healthy donors spiked with PC3 and LNCaP cell lines. CTCs and tdEVs were identified among the enriched cells by fluorescence microscopy. The positions of DNA+, CK+, CD45- CTCs and DNA-, CK+, CD45- tdEVs on the CellSearch cartridges and microsieves were recorded. After gradual dehydration and ch

SUBMITTER: Nanou A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6266016 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature