(國泰醫院+曾憲榮教授) NanoVelcro Microchips 捕捉母血中Fetal Trophoblast

非侵入性產檢突破！奈米魔鬼氈技術揪出胎兒異常2017-07-20孕婦為了在產前能揪出胎兒是否有染色體異常，必需透過有侵入性羊膜穿刺與絨毛膜採樣方法，因為有一定風險而感到心驚驚。現在，檢查技術已經有新突破，醫界發表非侵入性產前診斷方法，即「奈米魔鬼氈」技術，能捕捉母血中胎兒細胞及檢驗胎兒相關資訊，是產婦一大福音！在最新一期的美國化學會奈米期刊(ACS Nano)中，來自台灣的洛杉磯加州大學醫學院曾憲榮教授團隊與國泰醫院婦產科合作發表了此項嶄新的非侵入性產前診斷方法「奈米魔鬼氈」技術，成功捕捉母血中極微量的胎兒滋養層細胞(Fetal Trophoblast)，此技術不但能獲得完整的胎兒細胞，免於母親細胞干擾，以目前的基因技術分析23對染色體數目及結構之外，甚至能偵測出更微觀的胎兒遺傳資訊，如微小片段缺失等。國泰綜合醫院婦產科主治醫師陳俐瑾指出，本次研究在15位孕婦的血液中獲取其胎兒的細胞作分析，不但正確的檢驗出胎兒染色體異常如唐氏症、愛德華氏症，更精確的診斷出胎兒的染色體片段缺失疾病，且與其羊水細胞和胎兒組織分析結果相符。此技術初步成果相當令人振奮，未來若能進行更多臨床測試，待其有效性與準確率更加穩定。國泰醫院婦產科自1999年率先全台實施第一孕期唐氏症篩檢，陸續提供第一加第二孕期整合型唐氏症篩檢、高層次超音波篩檢，以及目前最火熱的母血胎兒DNA篩檢服務，已經有無數準媽媽診斷出胎兒唐氏症及其他遺傳疾病。婦產科蔡明松主任與陳俐瑾醫師目前更持續與最尖端的產前診斷技術合作，期許未來嘉惠於廣大的準媽媽族群免於接受侵入性產前檢查的風險與恐懼，為產婦與胎兒提供安全的產檢，同時也讓非侵入性產檢露出新曙光！

Imprinted NanoVelcro Microchips for Isolation and Characterization of Circulating Fetal Trophoblasts: Toward Noninvasive Prenatal Diagnostics   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.