UNS:ADVANCING CELL-PRESERVING SEPARATION VIA DETACHABLE CELL ANCHORING & SPIRAL MICRO-MIXING

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1512598ImoukhuedeUof Ill Urbana-ChampaignCell separation is especially necessary to advance personalized cancer medicine, because tumors contain a diverse mix of cells with different biomarkers that makes them difficult to treat. If different tumor cell types can be separated and analyzed the promise of tailoring drugs to the unique characteristics of a patient's tumor may be analyzed. The proposed research aims to engineer a fast and gentle cell separation system on a microscale. The ability to capture cells onto a surface and release by targeting a secondary moiety within the anchor would enable gentler, cell separation. As such, the proposed research aims to combine spiral micro-mixing with cell anchoring and secondary moiety targeted cell release to enable a cell separation from blood that is also receptor-preserving. The specific research goals are as follows: (1) identify the optimum conditions for detachable cell-anchoring; (2) determine the spiral micro-mixer design parameters enabling detachable cell-anchoring; (3) develop the microfluidic platform that will separate circulating endothelial cells, immune cells, and tumor cells from blood samples while preserving surface receptors on isolated cells. The proposed work may develop innovative technology that advances science while championing a high-impact, educational mission.