Nanovials are emerging as an accessible platform for performing single-cell functional screening leveraging standard instrumentation, such as flow cytometers and microfluidic single-cell sequencing platforms. Each cell and its secreted products are captured in nanovials where they can be analyzed and sorted using widely available fluorescence activated cell sorters operating at up to a 1000 cells per second, promising to democratize single-cell discovery efforts. The nanovial platform enables sorting cells based on secreted products for the discovery of high affinity antibodies, the development of cell lines producing recombinant products, and the selection of functional T cells for cell therapies. Nanovials enable the selective binding and functional characterization of secreted antigen-specific antibodies, cytokines, and other effector molecules. This is followed by the sorting of plasma B cells, hybridomas, or T cells for downstream sequencing of antibody heavy and light chains or T cell receptor (TCR) alpha and beta chains, along with functional annotation. Because both binding and cellular function can be assayed in a very high through-put manner (e.g. for millions of cells with standard equipment), this new “lab on a particle” approach can accelerate the discovery of monoclonal antibodies, cancer-specific TCRs, and TCRs against metabolites presented by unconventional major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-like molecules, with high accuracy, promising to transform the discovery of therapeutic antibodies and critical recognition elements for improved T cell therapies.
1. Discover how nanovial-based workflows can accelerate discovery of novel monoclonal antibodies and
T cell receptors.
2. Learn how to link secreted information from single cells to transcriptomic or genomic information.
3. Uncover flow cytometry gating and single-cell sequencing strategies that incorporate function-first
assays on nanovials.