A powerful new biosensor developed by European researchers will help identify cells in the immune system that actively suppress tumour growth, then put them to use. Enlisting the patient's own immune system would be like sending reinforcements for resistance fighters.
Cancer is a major killer and an intractable problem confronting medical science, but now European researchers have developed a biosensor that will help doctors to use the patient's own immune system to combat the disease.
And during their work the Cochise team discovered that the breakthrough technology could be used in a host of other applications, from biotech, to green tech to industrial processes. The biosensor for cancer therapy was the primary focus of the group, however.
Currently, many cancer therapies in the domain of immuno-oncology use immune system boosting drugs like interferon, interleukin 2, or various types of colony stimulating factors. Unfortunately, they can cause a reaction.
A better approach would be to select the "active cells", which are successfully fighting the cancer cells, amplify them in a test tube, and then re-inject them into the body.
Here doctors would merely be assisting the patient's own immune system to combat the tumour, with no risk of rejection or side effects. It is like sending reinforcements to help successful resistance fighters behind enemy lines.
But there is a problem. With current technology, there is no easy, cost effective and reliable way to identify the active cells.
Enter the biosensor
That has changed thanks to the work of the Cochise project, which stands for 'cell-on-chip biosensor'. The Cochise team developed a biosensor capable of identifying interactions between single cells. A biosensor is simply an instrument designed to detect signals from biological activity.
The Cochise biosensor uses a combination of microfluidics and electronics to first isolate immune system cells and cancer cells in a microwell, and then identify the active cells. Key to this analysis are the electronics, firstly the dielectrophoresis which forces the cells together so doctors can observe interactions between them. Active cells are then separated from the rest.
"The procedure we identified for measuring cell activity is at the core of the technology," says Massimo Bocchi, CTO at MindSeeds Laboratories, a researcher with the project.
"Basically, we demonstrated, using reference cell lines, that the expected interactions between cells of the immune system and tumour cells can be reproduced in microstructures, such as the microwell, at the single-cell level.
"When an event of interest is measured... [say] a cell of the immune system kills a target tumour cell, the cell of interest can be retrieved from the platform, transferred to a standard plate and cultured. This complete workflow allows doctors to study the behaviour of cells because we are able to isolate them on the basis of their functional activity. This is a key innovative concept in this field."
Mission accomplished
The group achieved their aim, and achieved a number of research successes along the way, notably the development of a new fabrication process and finding appropriate biocompatible materials.
"This was carried out during the project, demonstrating the possibility to fabricate disposable devices with a production technology which can be industrialised, thus supporting large-volume production," Bocchi stresses.