ArticleScientific reports2021
An automated real-time microfluidic platform to probe single NK cell heterogeneity and cytotoxicity on-chip.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta-analysis of natural killer cell cytotoxicity in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Pooled it
- Modeling cancer with bacteria-integrated tumor microenvironments using biomaterials: Emerging concepts and opportunities.Materials today. Bio · 2026Review
- From single cell analysis to 3D micro physiological systems: microfluidic tools integrating cancer cell targets for delineating natural killer cell biology.Microsystems & nanoengineering · 2026Review
- Real-Time Single-Cell Measurement and Kinetic Modeling of Daunorubicin Uptake in Multidrug-Resistant Leukemia Cells Using a Microfluidic Biochip.Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2026Article
- Research advances in the application of microfluidic chip technology for rapid detection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
- Harnessing Next-Generation 3D Cancer Models to Elucidate Tumor-Microbiome Crosstalk.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Review
- Modular Droplet-Based Microfluidic Platform for Functional Phenotypic Screening of Natural Killer Cells.Small methods · 2025Article
- Single Cell-Pair Proteomics for Decoding Immune-Cancer Cell Interactions.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Patient-Derived Microphysiological Systems for Precision Medicine.Advanced healthcare materials · 2024Review
- An AI-assisted integrated, scalable, single-cell phenomic-transcriptomic platform to elucidate intratumor heterogeneity against immune response.Bioengineering & translational medicine · 2024Article
- Qualitative monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination in humans using droplet microfluidics.JCI insight · 2023Article
- Viscoelastic Particle Encapsulation Using a Hyaluronic Acid Solution in a T-Junction Microfluidic Device.Micromachines · 2023Article
- A Microfluidic Approach for Probing Heterogeneity in Cytotoxic T-Cells by Cell Pairing in Hydrogel Droplets.Micromachines · 2022Article
- Hydrogels for Single-Cell Microgel Production: Recent Advances and Applications.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2022Review
- A comparative study of tumour-on-chip models with patient-derived xenografts for predicting chemotherapy efficacy in colorectal cancer patients.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cytotoxicity is a vital effector mechanism used by immune cells to combat pathogens and cancer cells. While conventional cytotoxicity assays rely on averaged end-point measures, crucial insights on the dynamics and heterogeneity of effector and target cell interactions cannot be extracted, emphasizing the need for dynamic single-cell analysis. Here, we present a fully automated droplet-based microfluidic platform that allowed the real-time monitoring of effector-target cell interactions and killing, allowing the screening of over 60,000 droplets identifying 2000 individual cellular interactions monitored over 10 h. During the course of incubation, we observed that the dynamics of cytotoxicity within the Natural Killer (NK) cell population varies significantly over the time. Around 20% of the total NK cells in droplets showed positive cytotoxicity against paired K562 cells, most of which was exhibited within first 4 h of cellular interaction. Using our single cell analysis platform, we demonstrated that the population of NK cells is composed of individual cells with different strength in their effector functions, a behavior masked in conventional studies. Moreover, the versatility of our platform will allow the dynamic and resolved study of interactions between immune cell types and the finding and characterization of functional sub-populations, opening novel ways towards both fundamental and translational research.
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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.