Stimulus-sensitive microparticles and methods of use

1. A thermolabile microsphere comprising:

i) a thermolabile homopolymer comprising an inner space and an external surface, wherein the homopolymer contains a target nucleic acid in the inner space, wherein the homopolymer transitions from a crystalline or semi-crystalline phase to a liquid/melt/flow phase over 10 or fewer ° C. and releases the nucleic acid at a temperature above about 60° C., wherein the homopolymer comprises polycaprolactone (PCL) monomers, the PCL monomers comprising a molecular weight in the range of about Mn 10,000 to about Mn 90,000, where Mn refers to number average molar mass; and

ii) a surface capture antigen or ligand attached to an external surface of the homopolymer.

2. The microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the microsphere further comprises:

iii) a detectable label being detectable while contained within the inner space of the thermolabile microsphere.

3. The microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the microsphere has a size in the range of about 10-30 μm.

4. The microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the microsphere has a size in the range of about 20-30 μm.

5. The microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the target nucleic acid comprises DNA.

6. The microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the target nucleic acid is comprised in a DNA plasmid.

7. The microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the target nucleic acid encodes a non-human DNA sequence, a mutated human DNA sequence or an artificial DNA sequence.

8. The microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the surface capture antigen or ligand is selected from Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM) and digoxigenin.

9. The microsphere of claim 2 , wherein the detectable label is a fluorophore.

10. The microsphere of claim 9 , wherein the fluorophore comprises an excitation peak at about 460 nm and an emission peak at about 500 nm.

11. A method of tracking the efficiency of recovery of a rare cell population from a mixture of cells, comprising:

a) mixing a predetermined number of thermolabile microspheres of claim 1 with a mixture of cells suspected of comprising a cell of a rare cell population, wherein the thermolabile microspheres comprise:

(i) a thermolabile polymer comprising an inner space and an external surface, wherein the polymer contains a target nucleic acid in the inner space, wherein the polymer transitions from a crystalline or semi-crystalline phase to a liquid/melt/flow phase over 10 or fewer ° C. and releases the nucleic acid at a temperature above about 50° C., wherein the polymer is selected from the group consisting of polycaprolactone (PCL), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and Poly Lactic-co-Glycolic Acid (PLGA); and

(ii) a surface capture antigen or ligand attached to an external surface of the polymer,

wherein the surface capture antigen or ligand attached to the external surface of microsphere is the same epitope used to isolate the rare cell population;

b) adding to the mixture of cells comprising the thermolabile microspheres a binding partner that binds to the surface capture antigen or ligand;

c) concurrently isolating binding partner-bound microspheres and cells of the rare cell population from the mixture of cells, wherein the number of microspheres captured is representative of the efficiency of capture of cells in the rare cell population from the mixture of cells;

d) subjecting the isolated microspheres and isolated cells in the rare cell population to a temperature of at least 50° C., under conditions that concurrently release genomic DNA from the cells and release the target nucleic acid from the microsphere; and

e) concurrently amplifying and quantifying the genomic DNA from the isolated cells and the target nucleic acid released from the thermolabile microspheres, wherein the quantity of target nucleic acid amplified is representative of the efficiency of recovery of genomic DNA from the isolated cells of the rare cell population, thereby tracking the efficiency of recovery of the rare cell population from the mixture of cells.

12. The microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the PCL monomers comprise a molecular weight in the range of about Mn 70,000 to about Mn 90,000.

13. The microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the surface capture antigen or ligand is a circulating tumor cell (CTC)-associated marker selected from the group consisting of Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM), mucin 1 (MUC1), carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 5 (CEACAM5), and ERBB2.

14. The microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the target nucleic acid encodes a protein selected from plasmid maintenance protein (ccdB) and 3′,5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate phosphodiesterase cpdA.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

prior to d), identifying a number of microspheres isolated during c) by interrogating the detectable label; and

comparing the identified number of microspheres with the predetermined number provided in a).

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the rare cell population comprises circulating tumor cells (CTC).

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the mixture of cells is in a biological sample from a patient.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the biological sample is whole blood.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the predetermined number of thermolabile microspheres is in the range of about 10 to about 100 microspheres.

20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the patient is a human.

21. The method of claim 11 , wherein the binding partner that binds to the surface capture antigen or ligand is an antibody or antibody fragment.

22. A thermolabile microsphere comprising:

i) a thermolabile homopolymer comprising an inner space and an external surface, wherein the homopolymer contains a target nucleic acid in the inner space, wherein the homopolymer transitions from a crystalline or semi-crystalline phase to a liquid/melt/flow phase over 10 or fewer ° C. and releases the nucleic acid at a temperature above about 50° C., wherein the homopolymer is polycaprolactone (PCL); and

ii) a surface capture antigen or ligand attached to an external surface of the homopolymer, wherein the surface capture antigen or ligand is selected from the group consisting of Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM), digoxigenin, mucin 1 (MUC1), carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 5 (CEACAM5), and ERBB2.

23. A thermolabile microsphere comprising:

i) a thermolabile polymer comprising an inner space and an external surface, wherein the polymer contains a target nucleic acid in the inner space, wherein the polymer transitions from a crystalline or semi-crystalline phase to a liquid/melt/flow phase over 10 or fewer ° C. and releases the nucleic acid at a temperature above about 50° C., wherein the polymer is selected from the group consisting of polycaprolactone (PCL), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and Poly Lactic-co-Glycolic Acid (PLGA); and

ii) a surface capture antigen or ligand attached to an external surface of the polymer, wherein the surface capture antigen or ligand is selected from the group consisting of Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM), digoxigenin, mucin 1 (MUC1), carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 5 (CEACAM5), and ERBB2.

24. A method of tracking the efficiency of recovery of a rare cell population from a mixture of cells, comprising:

a) mixing a predetermined number of thermolabile microspheres with a mixture of cells suspected of comprising a cell of a rare cell population, wherein the thermolabile microspheres comprise

(i) a thermolabile polymer comprising an inner space and an external surface, wherein the polymer contains a target nucleic acid in the inner space, wherein the polymer transitions from a crystalline or semi-crystalline phase to a liquid/melt/flow phase over 10 or fewer ° C. and releases the nucleic acid at a temperature above about 50° C., wherein the polymer is selected from the group consisting of polycaprolactone (PCL), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and Poly Lactic-co-Glycolic Acid (PLGA); and

(ii) a surface capture antigen or ligand attached to an external surface of the polymer, wherein the surface capture antigen or ligand is selected from the group consisting of Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM), digoxigenin, mucin 1 (MUC1), carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 5 (CEACAM5), and ERBB2;

wherein the surface capture antigen or ligand attached to the external surface of microsphere is the same epitope used to isolate the rare cell population;

b) adding to the mixture of cells comprising the thermolabile microspheres a binding partner that binds to the surface capture antigen or ligand;

c) concurrently isolating binding partner-bound microspheres and cells of the rare cell population from the mixture of cells, wherein the number of microspheres captured is representative of the efficiency of capture of cells in the rare cell population from the mixture of cells;

d) subjecting the isolated microspheres and isolated cells in the rare cell population to a temperature of at least 50° C., under conditions that concurrently release genomic DNA from the cells and release the target nucleic acid from the microsphere; and

e) concurrently amplifying and quantifying the genomic DNA from the isolated cells and the target nucleic acid released from the thermolabile microspheres, wherein the quantity of target nucleic acid amplified is representative of the efficiency of recovery of genomic DNA from the isolated cells of the rare cell population, thereby tracking the efficiency of recovery of the rare cell population from the mixture of cells.

25. The microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the PCL monomers comprise a molecular weight in the range of about Mn 10,000 to about Mn 14,000.