Capturing cancer cells using hyaluronic acid-immobilized electrospun random or aligned PLA nanofibers

The capture of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is of paramount importance for early cancer diagnosis. Herein, we report the development of hyaluronic acid (HA)-immobilized electrospun random or aligned polylactic acid (PLA) nanofibers for cancer cell capture applications. Electrospun random or aligned PLA nanofibers were modified with HA via polyethylenimine (PEI) as a linker, followed by acetylating the remaining PEI amines on the fiber surface. The formed HA-immobilized random or aligned PLA nanofibers were thoroughly characterized. We show that the fiber morphology does not significantly change after multiple steps of surface modification. In addition, the HA-modified random or aligned PLA nanofibers display good hemocompatibility. Moreover, the modification of HA increases the capture capability of electrospun nanofibers towards CD44 receptor-overexpressing cancer cells, and electrospun nanofibers with aligned structure display the highest cancer cell capture effciency. The developed HA-immobilized electrospun aligned PLA nanofibers may be applied for capturing CTCs in the future after further materials design and optimization.