Integrative Biosensing Nanoplasmonic Array for Real-Time Spatiotemporal Imaging of Protein Secretion in Cell-to-Cell...

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Cell Biology
• Immunology

Background:

• Protein secretion is vital for cell communication and disease.
• Current methods for secretome analysis lack real-time, quantitative data.
• Understanding cell interactions requires high-resolution imaging of secreted proteins.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel platform for real-time, high-resolution imaging of protein secretion.
• To overcome limitations of existing semi-quantitative, endpoint analysis methods.
• To investigate spatiotemporal dynamics of cytokine-mediated cell-to-cell communication.

Main Methods:

• Development of an integrative biosensing nanoplasmonic array (iBNA) using aptamer-functionalized gold nanostructures.
• Utilizing microfluidics for high-throughput, real-time spatiotemporal imaging.
• Employing localized plasmonic resonance shifts for optoelectronic detection of cytokine concentration (Interleukin-6).

Main Results:

• Achieved significantly improved spatiotemporal resolution and specificity for Interleukin-6 (IL-6) imaging compared to conventional techniques.
• Successfully imaged polarized, cytokine-mediated cell-to-cell communication between Jurkat T cells and CD4+ T cells in real-time.
• Demonstrated the correlation between biomolecular binding and plasmonic resonance shifts for quantitative detection.

Conclusions:

• The iBNA platform provides unprecedented insights into the spatiotemporal dynamics of protein secretion.
• This technology holds significant potential for advancing immunological research and cellular biology.
• The platform offers promising applications in diagnostics for infectious diseases and other conditions involving altered protein secretion.