Laboratory-Scale Production of Sterile Targeted Microbubbles

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cell Biology
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Perfluorocarbon microbubbles are established ultrasound contrast agents.
• Targeted microbubbles are being developed for cell isolation techniques like buoyancy activated cell sorting (BACS) and buoyancy enabled separation (BUBLES).
• These microbubbles have shown potential in detecting circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and isolating hematopoietic cells.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the manufacturing process of sterile targeted microbubbles for research.
• To highlight the versatility of targeted microbubbles in cell sorting and T cell activation.
• To showcase the application of microbubbles as artificial antigen presenting cells (aAPCs).

Main Methods:

• Manufacturing of sterile, lipid-shelled, perfluorocarbon gas-filled microbubbles.
• Functionalization of microbubbles for targeted cell capture.
• Application of microbubbles in buoyancy-based cell isolation (BACS/BUBLES).
• Utilizing microbubbles for multimarker cell sorting and T cell activation.

Main Results:

• Successful production of sterile targeted microbubbles.
• Demonstrated efficacy in ex vivo cell isolation for CTC detection and hematopoietic cell isolation.
• Established utility in multimarker cell sorting.
• Showcased potential as artificial antigen presenting cells for T cell expansion.

Conclusions:

• Sterile targeted microbubbles are manufacturable for diverse research applications.
• Microbubble technology offers advanced solutions for cell isolation and analysis.
• Targeted microbubbles represent a promising tool for immunotherapy and diagnostics.