Keynote Presentation: Droplet Microfluidics in antibody discovery, immune repertoire sequencing and personalized cancer therapy

We have developed fully integrated droplet-based microfluidic platforms for the screening of therapeutic antibodies1, 2. In these systems tiny aqueous droplets (picoliter volumes) surrounded by oil serve as independent assay vessels. The technology allows the direct screening of several hundred thousand primary, non-immortalized murine or even human B-cells for the secretion of antibodies that do not just bind to a drug target, but functionally inhibit it. Furthermore, we have established advanced single-cell antibody sequencing protocols enabling the screening of immune repertoires of COVID-19 infected patients for neutralizing antibodies. Taken together this should open the way for many new approaches in drug discovery, including personalized immunotherapy or the use of antibodies to control cellular pathways at will. 

In parallel to this we have developed screening platforms enabling rapid identification of optimal drug cocktails for personalized cancer therapy3. Results are available within 24h after surgery at consumables costs of less than 150 US$ per screen. The power of this platform has been demonstrated using cancer cell lines, xenograft mouse models and even human tumor biopsies. As a next step we are now translating the technology into a robust and easy to use diagnostic device, integrate transcriptomic readouts and start clinical trials in the second half of 2021. 

1.    B. El Debs, R. Utharala, I. V. Balyasnikova, A. D. Griffiths and C. A. Merten, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2012, 109, 11570-11575.

2.    N. Shembekar, H. Hu, D. Eustace and C. A. Merten, Cell Rep, 22, 2206-2215.

3.    F. Eduati, R. Utharala, D. Madhavan, U. P. Neumann, T. Longerich, T. Cramer, J. Saez-Rodriguez and C. A. Merten, Nat Commun, 2018, 9, 2434.

Learning Objectives:

1. Use of droplet microfluidic in high throughput biomedical applications

2. Single-cell assays at the phenotype/genotype level

3. Personalized combinatorial cancer therapy