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Ultrasensitive Detection of MCF-7 Cells with a Carbon Nanotube-Based Optoelectronic-Pulse Sensor Framework

Chan, Sophia SY; Lee, Denise; Meivita, Maria Prisca; Li, Lunna; Tan, Yaw Sing; Bajalovic, Natasa; Loke, Desmond K; (2022) Ultrasensitive Detection of MCF-7 Cells with a Carbon Nanotube-Based Optoelectronic-Pulse Sensor Framework. ACS Omega , 7 (22) pp. 18459-18470. 10.1021/acsomega.2c00842. Green open access

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Abstract

Biosensors are of vital significance for healthcare by supporting the management of infectious diseases for preventing pandemics and the diagnosis of life-threatening conditions such as cancer. However, the advancement of the field can be limited by low sensing accuracy. Here, we altered the bioelectrical signatures of the cells using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) via structural loosening effects. Using an alternating current (AC) pulse under light irradiation, we developed a photo-assisted AC pulse sensor based on CNTs to differentiate between healthy breast epithelial cells (MCF-10A) and luminal breast cancer cells (MCF-7) within a heterogeneous cell population. We observed a previously undemonstrated increase in current contrast for MCF-7 cells with CNTs compared to MCF-10A cells with CNTs under light exposure. Moreover, we obtained a detection limit of ∼1.5 × 10^{3} cells below a baseline of ∼1 × 10^{4} cells for existing electrical-based sensors for an adherent, heterogeneous cell population. All-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations reveal that interactions between the embedded CNT and cancer cell membranes result in a less rigid lipid bilayer structure, which can facilitate CNT translocation for enhancing current. This as-yet unconsidered cancer cell-specific method based on the unique optoelectrical properties of CNTs represents a strategy for unlocking the detection of a small population of cancer cells and provides a promising route for the early diagnosis, monitoring, and staging of cancer.

Type: Article
Title: Ultrasensitive Detection of MCF-7 Cells with a Carbon Nanotube-Based Optoelectronic-Pulse Sensor Framework
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c00842
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c00842
Language: English
Additional information: © 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Chemical Engineering
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10152240
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