Soper Group Publishes Paper in Integrative Biology

Prof. Steven A. Soper and Dr. Maggie A. Witek of the University of Kansas recently published a paper in the journal Integrative Biology titled, “Isolation of circulating plasma cells from blood of patients diagnosed with clonal plasma cell disorders using cell selection microfluidics.” It was featured on the front cover of the February issue of the journal. The paper was a joint effort with Dr. Joyce Kamande and Ms. Maria Lindell of the University of North Carolina and Dr. Peter Voorhees of the Levine Cancer Institute.

Circulating plasma cells (CPCs) in peripheral blood have emerged as an important prognostic marker in patients with plasma cell disorders (PCD), such as multiple myeloma, with high burden of CPCs being indicative of active disease. Blood samples from patients diagnosed with PCD were analyzed for the presence of CPCs using a microfluidic device modified with monoclonal anti-CD138 antibodies. Antibodies tethered to the walls of the microfluidic device selectively isolate CPCs that can be identified via immuno-phenotyping with cancer specific markers for the cell clonality. Upon enzymatic release from the microfluidic chip, CPCs were also subjected to Fluorescence In-Situ Hybridization (FISH) analysis and KRAS mutation testing. FISH in CPCs revealed the presence of chromosome 13 deletions that correlated with bone marrow results. Different point mutations in KRAS were identified in CPCs subclones derived from the same patient. The device’s sinusoidal architecture offers high sensitivity for isolating CPCs directly from the peripheral blood of PCD patients with a simple workflow. It can process whole blood directly without pre-processing, minimizing sample loss and/or contamination.

Citation: Integ. Biol., 2018, 10, 82-91.
DOI: 10.1039/c7ib00183e