A Method of Targeted Cell Isolation via Glass Surface Functionalization

The overall goal of this glass surface functionalization process is to allow for the gentle capture and release of cells of interest. This method can help answer key questions in the field of tumor angiogenesis, enabling screening of cell biomarkers that indicate drug resistance. The main advantage of this technique is that it is completely customizable, for virtually any cell type of interest.

As long as there is an antibody specific to the cell type, the surface can be adapted for its capture. Though this method can provide insight into cancer angiogenesis, it may also be applied to other diseases as purified samples are necessary for the development of more personalized treatment regimens. We first had the idea for this method when we were trying to develop a reversible release mechanism for capturing cells, using the interaction between desthiobiotin and the adivin family.