Recent advances and perspectives on capture and concentration of label-free rare cells for biomedical science and engineering research

Label-free cell capture methods based on biophysical and biomechanical properties of the cell populations are growing. In addition, the capture and concentration methods based on stem cell niches provide new approaches and alternative choice in this field. Stem cell niches provide a special microenvironment for cells to maintain stem cell-like characteristics and support cancer stem cell (CSC) self-renewal. The microenvironment surrounding CSCs largely governs the cellular fate and the extracellular matrix plays an essential role in anchoring CSCs to their niches. A novel CSC niche mimetic system has been reported for the applications of label-free CSC selection and anti-cancer agent testing, as shown in this figure. A series of glycoprotein hyaluronic acid (HA)-based multilayer films have been fabricated to create microenvironment variations and to mimic CSC niches for colony formation and label-free CSC enrichment.156