In this study, a thermoresponsive hydrogel layer imprinted with Sialic Acid (SA) was created for the purpose of selectively capturing and releasing cancer cells. Using a thermoresponsive functional monomer, the SAimprinting procedure was carried out at 37°C, resulting in switchable SArecognition sites with potent SA binding at 37°C and poor binding at a lower temperature (for example, 25°C). The SA-imprinted hydrogel layer may be exploited for the selective recognition of cancer cells since SA is frequently overexpressed at the glycan terminals of cell membrane proteins or lipids. Our findings demonstrated that the hydrogel layer was effective at removing cancer cells from both real blood samples and culture medium. Also, by lowering the temperature, the collected cells could be released without any harm. This thermo-responsive hydrogel layer could be used as a promising and versatile platform for cell-based cancer diagnosis due to its noninvasive processing mode, high capture efficiency, good cell selectivity, and more stable and durable SA-imprinted sites compared to natural antibodies or receptors.
