AN INTEGRATED MICROFLUIDIC SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATING ON-CHIP SELEX PROCESS TO SCREEN TUMOR CELL-SPECIFIC APTAMERS

A new microfluidic system involving a progressive selection of highly specific ligands by repeated rounds of partition and amplification from a large combinatorial nucleic acid library to screen tumor cell-specific aptamers was developed in this study. The systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) process can be then automated. With this approach, an aptamer specific to lung cancer cells has been successfully screened. The entire process can be decreased from 2 weeks to only 3 days. The developed Cell-SELEX microsystem can be promising for fast screening of aptamers specific for tumor cells, which can be promising for early diagnosis of cancers and target therapy.