Triggered gelation of microfluidic polymer droplets to identify and isolate viable antigen-speific immune cells

ORAL

Abstract

The isolation of antigen-specific immune cells is fundamental to the study of autoimmune diseases and to the development of effective immunotherapies, yet practical technologies for doing so are lacking. We present here a new method for the triggered gelation of polymeric microfluidic assay droplets that enables the isolation of viable antigen-specific T-cells in microfluidic devices. Specifically, T-cell/target cell pairs are coencapsulated in liquid droplets prior to droplet conversion into gel microspheres compatible with fluorescence activated cell sorting. We aim to use this platform to perform high-throughput cell-cell interaction assays and isolate individual immune effector cells together with their cognate target cells for future immontherapy development.

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Presenters

  • Brendan Deveney

    Harvard University

Authors

  • Brendan Deveney

    Harvard University

  • Julie Brouchon

    Harvard University

  • John Heyman

    Harvard University

  • Yuan Yuan

    Harvard University

  • David A Weitz

    Physics and Applied Physics, Harvard University, Harvard University, School of engineering and applied science, Harvard University, Department of Physics & SEAS, Harvard University