Liquid biopsies of cancer via single-cell molecular profiling of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are hampered by the lack of ideal CTC markers. In this study, it is reported that TPN, a bioprobe with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) activity is capable of distinguishing various tumor cells from blood leukocytes based on the difference in cell mitochondria. TPN is a cell-permeant live-cell stain that has little effect on cell viability and integrity, enabling single-cell DNA/RNA analysis with improved efficiency compared with traditional antibody-based methods. Using TPN labeling, CTCs and CTC cluster are detected in the blood from patients with lung or liver cancer. The capability of TPN to identify rare tumor cells in the malignant pleural effusion samples is also demonstrated. Furthermore, RNA sequencing of single lung CTC identified by TPN is successfully performed. The findings presented here provide an antibody-free, low-cost, and nondisruptive approach for detection and genomic characterization of viable tumor cells based on a mitochondria-targeting AIE luminogen. It might serve as a new tool for monitoring of genomics dynamic of tumor and unraveling the mechanisms of tumor metastasis.

中文翻译：

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通过线粒体特异性AIE生物探针鉴定和分析活循环肿瘤细胞。

缺乏理想的CTC标记物阻碍了通过循环肿瘤细胞（CTC）的单细胞分子谱分析对癌症进行液体活检。在这项研究中，据报道TPN是一种具有聚集诱导发射（AIE）活性的生物探针，能够根据细胞线粒体的差异来区分各种肿瘤细胞和血白细胞。TPN是一种可渗透细胞的活细胞染色剂，对细胞活力和完整性影响很小，与传统的基于抗体的方法相比，单细胞DNA / RNA分析的效率更高。使用TPN标记，可从肺癌或肝癌患者的血液中检测出CTC和CTC簇。还证明了TPN能够识别恶性胸腔积液样品中稀有肿瘤细胞的能力。此外，通过TPN鉴定的单肺CTC的RNA测序已成功完成。本文介绍的发现为基于线粒体靶向AIE发光原的活肿瘤细胞的检测和基因组表征提供了一种无抗体，低成本且无中断的方法。它可以作为监测肿瘤基因组动力学和揭示肿瘤转移机制的新工具。