Abstract

Effective cancer immunotherapy hinges on a precise understanding of immune cell functionality and their dynamic interactions with tumor targets. There is a need for a non-destructive method to functionally phenotype immune cells and measure their interactions with targets in real-time [1]. The current experimental paradigms track individual cells functionally or measure genetic/protein levels of cell populations, which may not accurately represent the physiological states of cells [1].

Researchers at McMaster University have developed a novel method and system for the comparative analysis of the cytotoxic functions of different Natural Killer (NK) cell phenotypes using droplet-based microfluidics. This approach enables the encapsulation and real-time observation of NK cells and K562, the standard human myelogenous leukemia cell line, cancer cells within microfluidic droplets, facilitating detailed single-cell analysis of their interactions and cytotoxic activities.

Applications

• Precise and real-time monitoring of NK cell interactions with cancer cells with video and photo capturing.
• Can select optimal NK cell populations for personalized immunotherapy

Advantages

• Use of droplet-based microfluidics to directly compare peripheral blood and expanded NK cells with their versions cultured in ascites tumor microenvironment.
• Ability to change the ratio of trapped NK and cancer cells within each single droplet.
• Using transfected fluorescence-labelled K562 cells, colour cell differentiation, enhances monitoring reliability and simplifies tracking.