Microchip will reveal antitumor cells
Italian researchers have developed a biosensor to identify anti-cancer immune cells. The new device allows not only to identify one active cell out of a thousand, but also to isolate it and reproduce an entire cell line.
Scientists have long known that the human immune system is able to recognize and destroy the so-called precancerous cells that are ready to give rise to a malignant tumor. However, to detect immune cells that provide this protective mechanism, as well as to study or even simulate their action, until the last moment seemed an impossible task: precancerous cells are either destroyed or degenerated into cancer cells, and it is almost impossible to identify the immune cells that affect them.
The microfluidic biosensor developed by Italian researchers makes it possible to catch individual lymphocytes together with tumor cells, which makes it possible to select the most powerful killer cells from a fairly large volume.
The initiator of the Cell On CHIp bioSEnsor (COCHISE) project is a specialist in the field of microprocessor systems Roberto Guerrieri from the University of Bologna, Italy. Arguing for the choice of a topic for research, he notes that immunologists still do not have an effective method for identifying and isolating these so rare immune cells – lymphocytes with antitumor activity. Only one out of 1000 cells of the immune system has such properties.
Together with colleagues, they developed a microfluidic biochip with a matrix of 1536 microlunks. In each well, a fluorescently labeled cancer cell and a labeled immune cell are held together by the force of an electric field. Scanning the matrix in automated mode allows you to identify wells in which cancer cells have stopped glowing, which indicates the maximum anti-cancer activity of the lymphocyte in this well.
The lymphocytes that defeated the tumor cells were selected by scientists and transferred to immunologists for reproduction and study. The study of the directly active cell allows us to obtain more useful information about the relationship between the genetic characteristics of these particular lymphocytes and their expression of signaling molecules – cytokines. This knowledge will help to identify the genetic mechanisms that ensure the anticancer activity of cells, as well as contribute to the improvement of drugs to fight cancer.
Gerieri and colleagues also plan to reproduce whole cell lines from single particularly active lymphocytes. Scientists are interested in the question of whether the daughter cells will retain their anti-cancer properties in full. If their idea is confirmed, this approach can be used in the development of anti-cancer vaccines based on the patient's own lymphocytes.
The idea of such a sensor is not new in itself – similar systems have been proposed by other scientists, but none of them is as user-friendly as COCHISE. Unlike other devices, the Gerieri biosensor allows you to deliver cells directly to the chip, as well as manipulate them.
Despite the promising prospects of such a technology, it is not without its weaknesses. Cancer is a complex and complex disease, and the biology of cancer cells extracted from their microenvironment differs from the behavior of cells inside the body. Thus, the study of the interaction of cells outside their characteristic microenvironment should cause caution.
Nevertheless, COCHISE technology opens up great prospects for immunologists and specialists in the field of cell biology. Its main advantage is the ability to get detailed answers to questions about the interaction between cells, which is very difficult to achieve using traditional methods. If the Gerieri biosensor becomes widespread, it can become a very important tool not only in cancer research, but also in many other industries, including gene therapy and even biofuel technology using microalgae.
Ruslan Kushnir
Eternal Youth Portal www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Technology Review: Identifying Anticancer Immune Cells09.12.2009