Development of automated imaging and spectroscopic cell sorting platforms for research into cancer and metabolic diseases

从群体中鉴定和分离稀有靶细胞对诊断和基础研究至关重要。虽然基于荧光的分选技术是常用的，但有各种各样的应用，其中荧光标记要么不适用，要么不需要（例如，当为治疗分选细胞时）。该项目将开发一种多功能微流体系统，该系统集成了拉曼光谱，用于根据其固有的生物分子和光学图像配置文件对活细胞进行分类。它将建立在我们开创性的拉曼激活细胞分选（RACS）微流控平台上，在机器学习和光微流控方面有新的发展。该技术将使用单细胞拉曼光谱，该光谱具有细胞表型、代谢活性和功能的特征。这项工作的结果将为“深度挖掘”未开发的生物系统开辟一条新的途径，并促进对疾病状态中表现出来的细胞代谢的研究。在这个项目中，根据学生的兴趣，重点可以放在不同阶段的癌细胞研究上，以发现潜在的代谢生物标志物，用于早期癌症诊断和筛选潜在的治疗方法。该项目是高度跨学科的，涉及工程师、细胞生物学家和物理科学家之间的合作。学生将获得广泛的技能，从微流体，成像方法和分析技术，所有在研究与不同疾病相关的细胞生物学的背景下。

Identifying and isolating rare target cells from a population is essential for diagnostics and fundamental research. Although fluorescence-based sorting techniques are commonly used, there are a vast diversity of applications, where fluorescence labelling is either not applicable or not desirable (e.g. when sorting cells for therapeutics).This project will develop a versatile microfluidic system that integrates with Raman spectroscopy for sorting living cells based on their intrinsic biomolecular and optical image profiles. It will build upon on our pioneering Raman-activated cell sorting (RACS) microfluidic platforms, with new developments in machine learning and opto-microfluidics. The technology will use single cell Raman spectra that are characteristic of the phenotype, metabolic activity and function of a cell.The outcome of this work will open a new avenue for 'deep mining' of untapped biological systems and facilitate the study of cellular metabolisms that are manifested in disease states. Within the project, depending on the student's interests, the focus could be on the study of cancer cells at different stages to discover potential metabolic biomarkers for early cancer diagnosis and screening for potential treatments.The project is highly interdisciplinary involving collaborations between engineers, cell biologists, and physical scientists. The student will gain a broad range of skills ranging from microfluidics, to imaging methods and analytical techniques, all in the context of studying the cell biology associated with different diseases.