Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a primary mechanism for cancer metastasis. Detecting the activation of EMT can potentially convey signs of metastasis to guide treatment management and improve patient survival. One of the classic signatures of EMT is characterized by dynamic changes in cellular expression levels of E‐cadherin and N‐cadherin, whose soluble active fragments have recently been reported to be biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Herein, a microfluidic immunoassay (termed “SERS immunoassay”) based on sensitive and simultaneous detection of soluble E‐cadherin (sE‐cadherin) and soluble N‐cadherin (sN‐cadherin) for EMT monitoring in patients' plasma is presented. The SERS immunoassay integrates in situ nanomixing and surface‐enhanced Raman scattering readout to enable accurate detection of sE‐cadherin and sN‐cadherin from as low as 10 cells mL⁻¹. This assay enables tracking of a concurrent decrease in sE‐cadherin and increase in sN‐cadherin in breast cancer cells undergoing drug‐induced mesenchymal transformation. The clinical potential of the SERS immunoassay is further demonstrated by successful detection of sE‐cadherin and sN‐cadherin in metastatic stage IV breast cancer patient plasma samples. The SERS immunoassay can potentially sense the activation of EMT to provide early indications of cancer invasions or metastasis.

中文翻译：

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通过微流控表面增强拉曼光谱免疫分析追踪乳腺癌中药物诱导的上皮-间质转化

上皮-间质转化（EMT）是癌症转移的主要机制。检测EMT的激活可以潜在地转移迹象，以指导治疗管理并改善患者生存率。EMT的经典特征之一是E-cadherin和N-cadherin细胞表达水平的动态变化，最近据报道其可溶性活性片段是癌症诊断和预后的生物标志物。本文介绍了一种基于灵敏的同时检测可溶性E-钙粘蛋白（sE-cadherin）和可溶性N-钙粘蛋白（sN-cadherin）的微流体免疫分析法，用于监测患者血浆中的EMT。^-1。该测定法能够追踪经历药物诱导的间充质转化的乳腺癌细胞中sE-cadherin的同时减少和sN-cadherin的增加。通过成功检测转移性IV期乳腺癌患者血浆样本中的sE-钙粘蛋白和sN-钙粘蛋白，进一步证明了SERS免疫测定的临床潜力。SERS免疫测定可以潜在地感知EMT的激活，以提供癌症侵袭或转移的早期迹象。