Highly sensitive and specific detection of tumor cells based on split aptamer-triggered dual hybridization chain reaction

Highly sensitive and specific detection of rare tumor cells is urgently needed for early tumor diagnosis. Herein, a split aptamer-based dual hybridization chain reaction (dual-HCR) strategy with flow cytometry analysis was developed to meet this purpose. With split aptamer pair as recognition unit and HCR as signal amplification technique, this strategy achieved improved detection limit as low as 20 cells in 200 μL binding buffer. Meanwhile, this method was highly specific with distinct recognition of target cells from control cells and mixed cell samples. Furthermore, we succeeded in the specific detection of target cells in 50% human serum, demonstrating this method has great potential in clinical applications. In theory, this strategy is available to detect different target cells by using different split aptamers. Therefore, this general, sensitive and specific tumor cell detection method may be helpful for early clinical diagnosis and cancer research.