Hyaluronic acid-coated magnetic nanoparticles-based selective collection and detection of leukemia cells with quartz crystal microbalance

We have synthesized hyaluronic acid-coated magnetic nanoparticles (HA-MNPs) to selectively collect and detect of leukemia cells (CCRF-CEM) in combination with quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) measurement. Based on the specific binding of HA with CD44 receptors overexpressed on cell surface, HA-MNPs were successfully employed for selectively extracting CCRF-CEM cells from the complex matrices including human plasma samples. The collection and detection conditions for CCRF-CEM cells were optimized. Under optimized conditions, a detection limit of 8 x 10(3) cells mL(-1) was obtained. The HA-MNPs-based magnetic separation combined with sensitive QCM measurement provides a simple, rapid and economical method for collecting and detecting leukemia cells, and this method may have great potential for wider applications in biomedical research and clinical diagnostics. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.