- Hou, Shuang;
- Chen, Jie-Fu;
- Song, Min;
- Zhu, Yazhen;
- Jan, Yu Jen;
- Chen, Szu Hao;
- Weng, Tzu-Hua;
- Ling, Dean-An;
- Chen, Shang-Fu;
- Ro, Tracy;
- Liang, An-Jou;
- Lee, Tom;
- Jin, Helen;
- Li, Man;
- Liu, Lian;
- Hsiao, Yu-Sheng;
- Chen, Peilin;
- Yu, Hsiao-Hua;
- Tsai, Ming-Song;
- Pisarska, Margareta D;
- Chen, Angela;
- Chen, Li-Ching;
- Tseng, Hsian-Rong
Circulating fetal nucleated cells (CFNCs) in maternal blood offer an ideal source of fetal genomic DNA for noninvasive prenatal diagnostics (NIPD). We developed a class of nanoVelcro microchips to effectively enrich a subcategory of CFNCs, i.e., circulating trophoblasts (cTBs) from maternal blood, which can then be isolated with single-cell resolution by a laser capture microdissection (LCM) technique for downstream genetic testing. We first established a nanoimprinting fabrication process to prepare the LCM-compatible nanoVelcro substrates. Using an optimized cTB-capture condition and an immunocytochemistry protocol, we were able to identify and isolate single cTBs (Hoechst+/CK7+/HLA-G+/CD45-, 20 μm > sizes > 12 μm) on the imprinted nanoVelcro microchips. Three cTBs were polled to ensure reproducible whole genome amplification on the cTB-derived DNA, paving the way for cTB-based array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) and short tandem repeats analysis. Using maternal blood samples collected from expectant mothers carrying a single fetus, the cTB-derived aCGH data were able to detect fetal genders and chromosomal aberrations, which had been confirmed by standard clinical practice. Our results support the use of nanoVelcro microchips for cTB-based noninvasive prenatal genetic testing, which holds potential for further development toward future NIPD solution.