ASM-chip: an antibody-modified size-screening microfluidic chip for high-efficiency circulating glioma cell isolation and clinical application

Sep 29, 2026

Peripheral blood circulating glioma cells (CGCs) are pivotal for glioma screening, prognostic evaluation, and diagnostic translation, yet robust capture and comprehensive clinical representativeness remain insufficiently explored. This work introduces an antibody modification and size screening-based microfluidic (ASM) chip with inlet/outlet architecture plus dedicated clearance and capture regions. Using SU-DHL-4 and U251MG-ZsGreen, capture exceeded 96% at 1.2 mL/h. In 35 patients, CGCs (1–25/mL) were detected in 21, linked to IDH1 status, Ki67, neutrophils, heparin-binding protein, and radiomics indicators including tumor size, necrosis, and edema. The ASM chip enables efficient capture and quantification for diagnosis and prognosis guidance.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Circulating glioma cells and clinical relevance

Existing CGC capture and detection methods

Abstract

ASM chip design and components

Performance optimization and capture efficiency

Clinical detection in glioma patients

Associations with molecular markers and clinical/prognostic indicators

Licensing and article access

Su et al. Microsystems & Nanoengineering (2026)12:11 [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-025-01](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-025-01)129-5 Microsystems & Nanoengineering [www.nature.com/micronano](www.nature.com/micronano) ARTICLE Open Access ASM-chip: an antibody-modiﬁed size-screening microﬂuidic chip for high-efﬁciency circulating glioma cell isolation and clinical application Hengxing Su1, Aynur Abdulla2,3, Haoni Yan3, Jiasu Xu4, Yujie Shi3, Xianting Ding1,2 ✉ and Bangbao Tao1 ✉ Abstract Peripheral blood circulating glioma cells (CGCs) are crucial for glioma screening, prognostic evaluation, and diagnostic applications. However, reliable methods for efﬁcient CGCs capture and comprehensive clinical evaluation on whether CGCs could faithfully represent complicated heavy equipment (such as MRI) remain insufﬁciently explored. Here, we present an antibody modiﬁcation and size screening-based microﬂuidic (ASM) chip for effectively capturing CGCs, speciﬁcally designed for potential clinical translational applications. The ASM chip consists of one inlet, three outlets, one white blood cell clearance area, and one CGC capture area. The performance of the chip was optimized with two typical cell subtypes, namely SU-DHL-4 (to simulate leukocytes) and U251MG-ZsGreen (to simulate CGCs), and the capture rate reached more than 96% ata ﬂow rate of 1 .2 mL/h. In real-life applications, CGCs (1–25/mL) were detected in 21 out of 35 glioma patients. We found that the number of CGCs was relatively high in patients with wild-type IDH1 and was positively correlated with Ki67 expression (p = 0.026) . The enrichment of CGC was correlated with neutrophils (p = 0.041) and heparin-binding protein (p = 0.0064), suggesting neutrophil-mediated metastasis. Radiomics linked a higher presence of CGCs with larger tumors, severe necrosis, and extensive edema, suggesting a poor prognosis for patients. The ASM chip can effectively capture and quantify CGCs for guiding the diagnosis and predicting the potential prognosis of clinical glioma patients. Introduction Cancer-related death is the second leading cause of human mortality1. It is estimated that up to 90% of cancer deaths are caused by metastatic cancer2. When tumor cells break away from the primary tumor, enter the peripheral bloodstream, and circulate throughout the body, they are referred to as circulating tumor cells (CTCs)3. Upon adapting to the selective pressures of the new microenvironments in various tissues, these cells establish secondary malignant growths, ultimately resulting in cancer-related mortality. Glioma is the most common invasive cancer of the central nervous system (CNS), Correspondence: Xianting Ding ([dingxianting@sjtu.edu.cn](dingxianting@sjtu.edu.cn)) Bangbao Tao ([taobangbao@xinhuamed.com.cn](taobangbao@xinhuamed.com.cn)) 1Department of Neurosurgery, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No 1665 Kongjiang Road, Shanghai 200092, China 2State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Institute for Personalized Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China Full list of author information is available at the end of the article These authors contributed equally: Hengxing Su, Aynur Abdulla accounting for 75% of primary intracranial tumors in adults4. The median survival time for patients’ postdiagnosis is extremely short, typically ranging from 12 to 15 months5,6. Traditionally, it is believed that this type of tumor is conﬁned to the CNS because even the incidence of extracranial metastasis of glioblastoma, which is the most malignant, is extremely low (occurring in only 0.4–0.5% of patients), mainly metastasizing to bones, lymph nodes, lungs, and liver7–9. However, recent studies have indicated that circulating glioma cells (CGCs) are present in the peripheral blood of patients with glioma and display stem cell characteristics10, 11. Currently, there are four methods for capturing and detecting CGCs. Fi

FAQs

What problem does the ASM-chip target in glioma care?

It targets the need for a reliable method to efficiently capture circulating glioma cells (CGCs) and support comprehensive clinical evaluation for diagnosis and prognosis.

How is the ASM chip structured for CGC capture?

The chip includes one inlet, three outlets, a white blood cell clearance area, and a CGC capture area.

What clinical and biological correlations were observed using the ASM chip?

CGC numbers were higher in patients with wild-type IDH1 and positively correlated with Ki67. CGC enrichment also correlated with neutrophils and heparin-binding protein, and radiomics linked CGC presence with larger tumors, severe necrosis, and extensive edema.

Sep 29, 2026

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