ArticleLab on a chip2020
Droplet encapsulation improves accuracy of immune cell cytokine capture assays.
Article in Lab on a chip, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- From single cell analysis to 3D micro physiological systems: microfluidic tools integrating cancer cell targets for delineating natural killer cell biology.Microsystems & nanoengineering · 2026Review
- CellTrap: an instrument-free microfluidic platform for cell-cell interactions at stochastically generated effector-to-target ratios.RSC advances · 2026Article
- Non-invasive detection of VEGF secretion from small clusters of mesenchymal stem cells using VEGF-SSSA integrated into the CellStudio platform.Mikrochimica acta · 2025Article
- Recent Advances in Antibody Discovery Using Ultrahigh-Throughput Droplet Microfluidics: Challenges and Future Perspectives.Biosensors · 2025Review
- Droplet Microfluidics for Advanced Single-Cell Analysis.Smart medicine · 2025Review
- ATLAS-seq: a microfluidic single-cell TCR screen for antigen-reactive TCRs.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Analyzing functional heterogeneity of effector cells for enhanced adoptive cell therapy applications.Immuno-oncology technology · 2024Review
- Integration of secreted signaling molecule sensing on cell monitoring platforms: a critical review.Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry · 2024Review
- A Guide to Biodetection in Droplets.Analytical chemistry · 2024Review
- Digital droplet RT-LAMP increases speed of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA detection.Smart medicine · 2024Article
- Unveiling the Potential of Single-Cell Encapsulation in Biomedical Applications: Current Advances and Future Perspectives.Small science · 2024Article
- Microfluidic Chips: Emerging Technologies for Adoptive Cell Immunotherapy.Micromachines · 2023Review
- Secretion encoded single-cell sequencing (SEC-seq) uncovers gene expression signatures associated with high VEGF-A secretion in mesenchymal stromal cells.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- IL-2 secretion-based sorting of single T cells using high-throughput microfluidic on-cell cytokine capture.Lab on a chip · 2022Article
- A Monolithic 3D Printed Axisymmetric Co-Flow Single and Compound Emulsion Generator.Micromachines · 2022Article
- Review
- Single-cell sorting based on secreted products for functionally defined cell therapies.Microsystems & nanoengineering · 2022Review
- Cytokines: From Clinical Significance to Quantification.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2021Review
- Measuring single-cell protein secretion in immunology: Technologies, advances, and applications.European journal of immunology · 2021Review
- Probing Single-Cell Macrophage Polarization and Heterogeneity Using Thermo-Reversible Hydrogels in Droplet-Based Microfluidics.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Quantification of cell-secreted molecules, e.g., cytokines, is fundamental to the characterization of immune responses. Cytokine capture assays that use engineered antibodies to anchor the secreted molecules to the secreting cells are widely used to characterize immune responses because they allow both sensitive identification and recovery of viable responding cells. However, if the cytokines diffuse away from the secreting cells, non-secreting cells will also be identified as responding cells. Here we encapsulate immune cells in microfluidic droplets and perform in-droplet cytokine capture assays to limit the diffusion of the secreted cytokines. We use microfluidic devices to rapidly encapsulate single natural killer NK-92 MI cells and their target K562 cells into microfluidic droplets. We perform in-droplet IFN-γ capture assays and demonstrate that NK-92 MI cells recognize target cells within droplets and become activated to secrete IFN-γ. Droplet encapsulation prevents diffusion of secreted products to neighboring cells and dramatically reduces both false positives and false negatives, relative to assays performed without droplets. In a sample containing 1% true positives, encapsulation reduces, from 94% to 2%, the number of true-positive cells appearing as negatives; in a sample containing 50% true positives, the number of non-stimulated cells appearing as positives is reduced from 98% to 1%. After cells are released from the droplets, secreted cytokine remains captured onto secreting immune cells, enabling FACS-isolation of populations highly enriched for activated effector immune cells. Droplet encapsulation can be used to reduce background and improve detection of any single-cell secretion assay.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.