Artificial Antigen‐Presenting Interfaces in the Service of Immunology

Abstract

While the beneficial impact of modifying and/or targeting T lymphocytes is becoming increasingly accepted in the treatment of different diseases, the road towards cell-based immunotherapy is still long and winding. Major challenges that remain include, amongst others, the guidance and exquisite regulation of immune processes ex vivo. In part, this is due to the difficulties of simulating ex vivo the intimate cellular interactions that occur between T cells and antigen-presenting cells (APCs). The fate of T cells is not solely regulated by the presence of certain molecules on the surface of APCs but also by their density and spatial distribution on the micro- and nanometric scale. Moreover, mechanical properties of APCs and force-dependent conformational changes during the formation of an immunological synapse (IS; a highly organized supramolecular complex at the T cell[BOND]APC interface), play a crucial role in T cell fate regulation. Various different technical means have been developed to create APC substitutes that are able to simulate ex vivo signals originating from naturally occurring APCs. Here, we review the performance of APC surrogates and discuss their contribution to understanding mechanisms underlying the ability of T cells to perform the “intelligent” mission of acquiring, processing and responding to environmental information

Droplet-Based Cytotoxicity Assay: Implementation of Time-Efficient Screening of Antitumor Activity of Natural Killer Cells

“…The flexible design of microfluidic devices allows for the formation and manipulation of monodisperse droplets with easily varied diameters ranging upward from 10 μm, hence allowing for the production of well-defined confinements necessary for long-term monitoring of specific cell–cell interactions. Due to its versatility, this technology has already been applied for the investigation of basic immunological behaviors of T, NK, and antigen-presenting cells, such as activation mechanisms, cytokine release, ,, T-cell receptor (TCR) screening, and cytotoxicity. , In the case of droplet-based cytotoxicity assessment, the studies have focused mainly on the dynamics of effector and target cell interactions leading to cytotoxic events and provided general statistics behind the cytolytic activity of immune cells. However, no information regarding the effect of different confinement sizes on the cytolytic activity of NK cells and the “serial killing” behavior of NK cells has been provided.…”

Solution self-assembly of fluorinated polymers, an overview

“…This vesicles were later used in microfluidic devices which can find applications for in vitro translation, encapsulation and incubation of cells. 152 Spatz et al 153 developed a novel approach to form biofunctionalized droplets of water-in-oil emulsions with the potential to serve as 3D APC (antigen-presenting cells) surrogates (Fig. 16).…”

Pruning Fuzzy Neural Network Applied to the Construction of Expert Systems to Aid in the Diagnosis of the Treatment of Cryotherapy and Immunotherapy

“…Recent work of [39] proposes a hybrid classifier model to aid in these treatments, as well as a model based on a gravitational search to select the best characteristics to evaluate a better treatment [40]. Other works that use in the literature the smart models highlighted in [41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50].…”