On-Chip Analysis of Protein Secretion from Single Cells Using Microbead Biosensors

The culture of A549 cells and its secreted cytokine IL-6 monitoring on the designed multifunctional microfluidic chip

A multifunctional microfluidic chip integrated with perfusion cell culture and in situ SERS detection of cell secretion was designed and developed for the detection of IL-6 secretion from LPS-stimulation of A549 cells in this paper. Researching works were focused on A549 cell activity and secretion in the constructed LPS-stimulated A549 cells model. On the designed microchip, a bubble trap chamber was designed to remove the bubbles in the culture medium which could also be simultaneously preheated by a split hot plate. Then, a long-time perfusion culture process of 549 cells could be realized. Under the optimized conditions the A549 cells could be cultured and kept in good activity for more than 36 h. Subsequently, the model of interaction between LPS and A549 cells was established on the designed microchip. When LPS-stimulated A549 cells, the IL-6 which was one of the secretions formed in this process was detected quantitatively by SERS spectral technique. The silver-coated gold nano-stars were prepared and taken as a sensitive enhancing probe for the SERS detection of IL-6 secreted from LPS-stimulated A549 cells. The immunomagnetic beads, IL-6 antigen, and SERS probes were mixed and incubated in the microchip and form a sandwich structure which was captured by the permanent magnet in the detection zone for SERS detection. The reference material of IL-6 was used to establish the calibration curve, and the linear range and detection limit were 1-10000 pg/mL and 0.75 pg/mL, respectively. Then, the IL-6 secretion from LPS-stimulated A549 cells was detected hourly for 7 h by this established method. The process of LPS stimulation of A594 cells did not lead to a sustained increase in the SERS spectral signature of IL-6. Instead, IL6 secretion initially increased sharply, then decreased and eventually stabilized. It could be due to a potential mechanism that the cells self-regulated to mitigate the inflammatory effects in response to sustained stimulation. The proposed multifunctional microfluidic chip, characterized by high sensitivity and the ability to perform continuous hourly detection, exhibited significant application prospects in the study of external stimulation on cells.

Integration of secreted signaling molecule sensing on cell monitoring platforms: a critical review

Monitoring cell secretion in complex microenvironments is crucial for understanding cellular behavior and advancing physiological and pathological research. While traditional cell culture methods, including organoids and spheroids, provide valuable models, real-time monitoring of cell secretion of signaling molecules remains challenging. Integrating advanced monitoring technologies into these systems often disrupts the delicate balance of the microenvironment, making it difficult to achieve sensitivity and specificity. This review explored recent strategies for integrating the monitoring of cell secretion of signaling molecules, crucial for understanding and replicating cell microenvironments, within cell culture platforms, addressing challenges such as non-adherent cell models and the focus on single-cell methodologies. We highlight advancements in biosensors, microfluidics, and three-dimensional culture methods, and discuss their potential to enhance real-time, multiplexed cell monitoring. By examining the advantages, limitations, and future prospects of these technologies, we aim to contribute to the development of integrated systems that facilitate comprehensive cell monitoring, ultimately advancing biological research and pharmaceutical development.

An integrated perspective on measuring cytokines to inform CAR-T bioprocessing

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells are emerging as a generation-defining therapeutic however their manufacture remains a major barrier to meeting increased market demand. Monitoring critical quality attributes (CQAs) and critical process parameters (CPPs) during manufacture would vastly enrich acquired information related to the process and product, providing feedback to enable real-time decision making. Here we identify specific CAR-T cytokines as value-adding analytes and discuss their roles as plausible CPPs and CQAs. High sensitivity sensing technologies which can be easily integrated into manufacture workflows are essential to implement real-time monitoring of these cytokines. We therefore present biosensors as enabling technologies and evaluate recent advancements in cytokine detection in cell cultures, offering promising translatability to CAR-T biomanufacture. Finally, we outline emerging sensing technologies with future promise, and provide an overall outlook on existing gaps to implementation and the optimal sensing platform to enable cytokine monitoring in CAR-T biomanufacture.

Analysis of cellular response to drugs with a microfluidic single-cell platform based on hyperspectral imaging

BACKGROUND

Cellular response to pharmacological action of drugs is significant for drug development. Traditional detection method for cellular response to drugs normally rely on cell proliferation assay and metabolomics examination. In principle, these analytical methods often required cell labeling, invasion analysis, and hours of co-culture with drugs, which are relatively complex and time-consuming. Moreover, these methods can only indicate the drug effectiveness on cell colony rather than single cells. Thus, to meet the requirements of personal precision medicine, the development of drug response analysis on the high resolution of single cell is demanded.

RESULTS

To provide precise result for drug response on single-cell level, a microfluidic platform coupled with the label-free hyperspectral imaging was developed. With the help of horizontal single-cell trapping sieves, hundreds of single cells were trapped independently in microfluidic channels for the purposes of real-time drug delivery and single-cell hyperspectral image recording. To significantly identify the cellular hyperspectral change after drug stimulation, the differenced single-cell spectrum was proposed. Compared with the deep learning classification method based on hyperspectral images, an optimal performance can be achieved by the classification strategy based on differenced spectra. And the cellular response to different reagents, for example, K+, Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF), and Gefitinib at different concentrations can be accurately characterized by the differenced single-cell spectra analysis.

SIGNIFICANCE AND NOVELTY

The high-throughput, rapid analysis of cellular response to drugs at the single-cell level can be accurately performed by our platform. After systematically analyzing the materials and the structures of the single-cell microfluidic chip, the optimal single-cell trapping method was proposed to contribute to the further application of hyperspectral imaging on microfluidic single-cell analysis. And the hyperspectral characterization of single-cell with cancer drug stimulation proved the application potential of our method in personal cancer medication.