Data for: "Detection of Estrogen Receptor Alpha and Assessment of Fulvestrant Activity in MCF-7 Tumour Spheroids Using Microfluidics and SERS"

The purpose of this dataset is to use a combination of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) techniques with microfluidic technologies for the detection of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) expression in a 3D tumour model, using the ERα positive human breast cancer cell line MCF-7. This approach was used to compare targeted versus non-targeted nanoparticles with the tumour model to better understand whether targeted nanoparticles are required to efficiently target ERα or whether the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect is sufficient. A mixture of targeted anti-ERα antibody-functionalised nanotags (ERα-AuNPs) and non-targeted (against ERα) anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) antibody-functionalised nanotags (HER2-AuNPs), with different Raman reporters with a similar SERS signal intensity, were incubated with MCF-7 spheroids in microfluidic devices and spectroscopically analysed using SERS. 2D and 3D SERS measurements confirmed the strong targeting effect of ERα-AuNP nanotags to the MCF-7 spheroids in contrast to HER2-AuNPs (63% signal reduction). Moreover, 3D SERS measurements confirmed the differentiation between the targeted and the non-targeted nanotags. Finally, we demonstrated how the nanotag uptake on MCF-7 spheroids was affected by the drug fulvestrant, the first-in-class approved selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD). These results illustrate the potential of using SERS and microfluidics as a powerful in vitro platform for the characterisation of 3D tumour models and the investigation of SERD activity. See README file for additional data information. Data embargo until 27/11/21