The Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning/McGill University

Published purpose

The project aims to characterize the functionality of engineered immune cells (e.g. CAR T-cells) by activating them with tumor-specific antigens (e.g. CD-19) and through their interaction with isolated circulating tumor cells (CTCs). To achieve this goal, the CAR T-cells and the isolated cells will be brought together and encapsulated in droplets to promote cellular interactions. The cells will then be incubated for CAR T-cell activation, and the activated CAR T-cells will be interrogated by analyzing the cytokines output using a microbead-in-droplet multiplex sandwich immunoassay developed in this project. The novel technology proposed herein is currently unavailable on the market and has the potential to significantly affect the way that cell therapy products are assessed and how quality control is performed.