Vertically aligned multiwall-carbon nanotubes to preferentially entrap highly metastatic cancerous cells

We have investigated the entrapment of colon cancer cells with two different metastatic grades on arrays of multiwall carbon nanotubes. It has been observed that the fraction of entrapment of higher metastatic cancer cells is significantly more than lower metastatic grades. The observed effects are due to the more deformability and softness of higher metastatic malignant cells in comparison with the lower ones both for live and fixed cells. Also cell fixation results in a decrease of their entrapment due to an increase in cell rigidity by the fixation process. The present phenomenon describes a new application of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes to distinguish the healthy and cancerous cells by means of their different deformability properties during entrapment on such arrays. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.