Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been detected by us and others in cancer patient blood. However, little is known about how to specifically capture and deactivate CTCs in vivo, which may lead to successful metastasis prevention in asymptomatic cancer survivors after surgery. We hypothesize that the dual antibody conjugates may have the advantage of capturing CTCs specifically over their single antibody counterparts. Here we show that the surface-functionalized dendrimers can be sequentially coated with two antibodies directed to surface biomarkers (EpCAM and Slex) of human colorectal CTCs. The dual antibody-coated dendrimers exhibit a significantly enhanced specificity in capturing CTCs in the presence of interfering blood cells, and in both eight-patient bloods and nude mice administered with the labeled CTCs in comparison to their single antibody-coated counterparts. The dual antibody-coated conjugates down-regulate the captured CTCs. This study provides the first conceptual evidence that two antibodies can be biocompatibly conjugated to a nanomaterial to capture and down-regulate CTCs in vivo with the enhanced specificity.Schematic illustration of how the dual antibody-coated nanomaterial conjugates capture and restrain the CTCs (HT29 cells) with enhanced selectivity and specificity in the presence of abundant interfering leukocytes and/or RBCs. The surface-functionalized dendrimers (ii) are sequentially coated with two antibodies of distinct biomarkers (iii) of CTCs (EpCAM and Slex), and the re-engineered conjugates can recognize and capture CTCs more specifically even in the presence of interfering cells (iv, v). The dendrimer surface also provides the enhanced local topographic interaction (iv and inset) between CTCs and the conjugates. As a result, the activity of residual CTCs with low proliferation rate may be restrained (vi).

•The extracts of Murraya exotica inhibited the migration of HT-29 cancer cells.•Chemically compositional analyses of the extracts were carried out by UPLC–MS.•LC-MS fasted screening and identifying new active component(s) from phytomedicines extracts.Murraya exotica is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) widely grown in southeast China. We herein proposed a fast strategy for separation and identification of active components of cancer metastatic chemopreventives from the root, leaf, twig and stem bark extracts that were obtained by reflux in 80% acidic ethanol and then liquid–liquid extraction. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis showed that the extract mixtures from leaf, bark and twig were similar, while the root extract contained a characteristic component (CM1). Bioactivity assays revealed that the root extract contained some active components that significantly inhibited cancer cell viability and migration. Ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (UPLC-DAD–ESI-MS) analysis indicated the existence of coumarins in the root and leaf extracts. Semi-preparative chromatographic separation and physicochemical characterization indicated that CM1 was a novel coumarin derivative that warrants further chemopreventive studies on cancer metastasis. The present phytochemical and phytopharmacological studies exemplify a fast strategy for screening and identifying active component(s) from raw extracts of phytomedicines.