Optimization of conditions for specific binding of antibody-coated beads to cells

Process optimization and biocompatibility of cell carriers suitable for automated magnetic manipulation

There is increasing demand for automated cell reprogramming in the fields of cell biology, biotechnology and the biomedical sciences. Microfluidic-based platforms that provide unattended manipulation of adherent cells promise to be an appropriate basis for cell manipulation. In this study we developed a magnetically driven cell carrier to serve as a vehicle within an in vitro environment. To elucidate the impact of the carrier on cells, biocompatibility was estimated using the human adenocarcinoma cell line Caco-2. Besides evaluation of the quality of the magnetic carriers by field emission scanning electron microscopy, the rate of adherence, proliferation and differentiation of Caco-2 cells grown on the carriers was quantified. Moreover, the morphology of the cells was monitored by immunofluorescent staining. Early generations of the cell carrier suffered from release of cytotoxic nickel from the magnetic cushion. Biocompatibility was achieved by complete encapsulation of the nickel bulk within galvanic gold. The insulation process had to be developed stepwise and was controlled by parallel monitoring of the cell viability. The final carrier generation proved to be a proper support for cell manipulation, allowing proliferation of Caco-2 cells equal to that on glass or polystyrene as a reference for up to 10 days. Functional differentiation was enhanced by more than 30% compared with the reference. A flat, ferromagnetic and fully biocompatible carrier for cell manipulation was developed for application in microfluidic systems. Beyond that, this study offers advice for the development of magnetic cell carriers and the estimation of their biocompatibility.

Resistance to the Antineoplastic Agent Gallium Nitrate Results in Marked Alterations in Intracellular Iron and Gallium Trafficking: Identification of Novel Intermediates

Gallium (Ga) shows significant antitumor activity by markedly interfering with iron (Fe) metabolism, and (67)Ga is used as a radio-imaging agent for cancer detection. Therefore, the mechanisms involved in (67)Ga uptake, metabolism, and resistance are critical to understand. The development of tumor lines that are gallium-resistant suggests (67)Ga uptake may be different in these cells, providing an opportunity for understanding intracellular (67)Ga and (59)Fe transport and gallium resistance. In this study, gallium-resistant cells were used to assess (67)Ga and (59)Fe uptake using native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis autoradiography. In contrast to the common view that (67)Ga and (59)Fe use the same uptake pathways, we show that the trafficking of these two metal ions is different in cells either resistant (R) or sensitive (S) to gallium. Indeed, in contrast to (59)Fe, little (67)Ga is incorporated into ferritin, with most present as a labile (67)Ga pool. We also report unique changes in (67)Ga and (59)Fe trafficking between R and S cells. In particular, in R cells, there was a distinct transferrin-transferrin receptor 1-hemochromatosis protein (HFE) complex (band B) not observed in S cells. Furthermore, because HFE regulates iron and gallium uptake, the two Tf-TfR1-HFE complexes in R cells may be involved in reduced (67)Ga and (59)Fe uptake compared with S cells. In S cells, a novel iron-binding intermediate (band D) was identified that was not present in R cells and may be a "sensitivity factor" to gallium. In contrast to the general view that (67)Ga and (59)Fe use the same or similar uptake pathways, we show that their distribution and trafficking is markedly different in R and S cells.

Enrichment using antibody-coated microfluidic chambers in shear flow: model mixtures of human lymphocytes

Isolation of phenotypically-pure cell subpopulations from heterogeneous cell mixtures such as blood is a difficult yet fundamentally important task. Current techniques such as fluorescent activated cell sorting (FACS) and magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) require pre-incubation with antibodies which lead to processing times of at least 15-60 min. In this study, we explored the use of antibody-coated microfluidic chambers to negative deplete undesired cell types, thus obtaining an enriched cell subpopulation at the outlet. We used human lymphocyte cell lines, MOLT-3 and Raji, as a model system to examine the dynamic cell binding behavior on antibody coated surfaces under shear flow. Shear stress ranging between 0.75 and 1.0 dyn/cm2 was found to provide most efficient separation. Cell adhesion was shown to follow pseudo-first order kinetics, and an anti-CD19 coated (Raji-depletion) device with approximately 2.6 min residence time was demonstrated to produce 100% pure MOLT-3 cells from 50-50 MOLT-3/Raji mixture. We have developed a mathematical model of the separation device based on the experimentally determined kinetic parameters that can be extended to design future separation modules for other cell mixtures. We conclude that we can design microfluidic devices that exploits the kinetics of dynamic cell adhesion to antibody coated surfaces to provide enriched cell subpopulations within minutes of total processing time.

Factors that affect the efficiency of cell transfection by immunoporation

Immunoporation is a recently discovered method that is able to transfect various human cell lines efficiently by targeting the cell surface antigens with antibody-coated beads. For this particular study, HL60, a cell line difficult to transfect by other methods, was used as a model to define the various parameters of the cell membrane that determine the efficiency of this method. The level of antigen expression on the cell surface was the first parameter to be analyzed and experiments indicated that there is a close correlation between the level of expression of surface antigens and the efficiency of immunoporation. The mixing speed, the bead to cell ratio, and the mixing time were all found to affect the ability of the antigen-coated beads to pull holes in the cells and it was found that for HL60 cells the optimum mixing speed was 40 rpm and the bead to cell ratio was 20:1 using a mixing time of 6 h.

Ligation of cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans by antibody-coated beads stimulates phagocytic uptake into epithelial cells: a model for cellular invasion by Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Binding of a particular opacity outer membrane protein (Opa) of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) of epithelial cells results in tight bacterial adherence; however, the role of this ligand-receptor interaction in triggering the subsequent bacterial internalization step is uncertain. Here we have used latex beads coated with HSPG-ligating antibodies as an in vitro model to study the role of HSPGs in gonococcal uptake into epithelial cells. Beads and gonococci showed the same cell line-specified adherence patterns and increase in phagocytic uptake mediated by serum or purified vitronectin (Vn). Heparitinase digestion as well as antibody competition experiments indicate that a critical level of HSPG ligation is necessary and sufficient to trigger phagocytic uptake into epithelial cells. Vn was found to specifically enhance HSPG-dependent phagocytic uptake while phagocytosis resulting from the ligation of other cell surface receptors was unaffected in the presence of Vn. Pharmacological studies with PKC inhibitors suggest a role for PKC in phagocytic uptake of HSPG-ligating beads. The use of drugs impairing cytoskeletal functions indicates that HSPG-dependent phagocytosis requires actin polymerization by a process distinct from receptor-mediated endocytosis.

Separation of T and B lymphocytes from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells using density perturbation methods

The fractionation of sub-populations of peripheral blood mononuclear cells has become an essential routine procedure and some of the main fractionation methods used today are immunomagnetic separations. We describe a less expensive method for the separation of subpopulations of mononuclear cells using density perturbation, which uses the binding of antibody-coated dense polystyrene beads to increase the density of specific sub-populations of cells. By incubating a total mononuclear fraction from human peripheral blood together with antibody-coated beads, in a commercially-available lymphocyte separation medium (Nycoprep 1.077), a depletion of 94.9 +/- 1.68% of the T cells could be obtained by this procedure; a depletion of 69.7 +/- 1.78% of the B cells was also achieved. These results indicate the potential for the separation of different sub-populations of peripheral blood mononuclear cells on the basis of the immunological identity of the surface of cells using density perturbation methods involving antibody-coated dense polystyrene beads.