Microfluidic Analytical PLatform for the study of Individual Cell Secretions – Mapics

Monocytes/macrophages are the first line of defense of the immune system and secrete various pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. This process of orchestrating the immune response is finely controlled to avoid overreaction and secondary damage induced by inflammation. Endotoxin tolerance is the process in which macrophages are unable to respond to a second stimulus after an initial stimulation. Prolongation of this state can induce immunoparalysis, associated with increased mortality in patients with sepsis. The molecular mechanism of tolerance is not fully understood and the direct involvement of the cell's secretome in the tolerance process raises fundamental questions. The objective of the Mapics project is to design a microfluidic analytical platform to i) capture single monocytes from a donor, perform their tolerization with or without removal of autocrine secretions, ii) detect and quantify their individual secretion of "Tumor Necrosis Factor a" (TNF-a) after subsequent re-stimulation and iii) perform transcriptomic analysis of cells after removal of autocrine secretions. The concept of this analytical platform is generic and can be extended to the study of other biological phenomena.