Ex vivo and in vivo capture and deactivation of circulating tumor cells by dual-antibody-coated nanomaterials

Schematic illustration of how the dual antibody-coated nanomaterial conjugates capture and restrain the CTCs (HT29 cells) with enhanced selectivity and specificity in the presence of abundant interfering leukocytes and/or RBCs. The surface-functionalized dendrimers (ii) are sequentially coated with two antibodies of distinct biomarkers (iii) of CTCs (EpCAM and Slex), and the re-engineered conjugates can recognize and capture CTCs more specifically even in the presence of interfering cells (iv, v). The dendrimer surface also provides the enhanced local topographic interaction (iv and inset) between CTCs and the conjugates. As a result, the activity of residual CTCs with low proliferation rate may be restrained (vi).224