HYBRIDOMA SECRETION IMAGE ANALYSIS USING GEL MICRODROPS

THE GOAL OF THE RESEARCH PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP A PERSONAL COMPUTER-BASED SINGLE CELL IMAGE ANALYSIS SYSTEM BASED ON THE NOVEL GEL MICRODROP (GMD) TECHNOLOGY. THE PROJECT COMBINES GMD TECHNOLOGY WITH RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN OTHER FIELDS SUCH AS FLUORESCENT DYE CHEMISTRY, MICROSCOPY, DIGITAL PROCESSING, AND OPTICS TO DEVELOP AN IMAGE ANALYSIS SYSTEM OPTIMIZED TO ANALYZE SINGLE ENCAPSULATED CELLS. THE CORE GMD TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS IDENTIFICATION, ANALYSIS, AND SEPARATION OF SINGLE CELLS BASED ON CELL FUNCTION SUCH AS GROWTH, DRUG SUSCEPTIBILITY, PROTEIN SECRETION, ENZYME ACTIVITY OR METABOLITE PRODUCTION, OR CELL COMPOSITION PARAMETERS SUCH AS SURFACE MARKERS, INTERNAL PROTEINS, OR NUCLEIC ACID SEQUENCES. USING A COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE IMAGE ANALYSIS SYSTEM, RESEARCHERS WILL DEMONSTRATE FEASIBILITY BY IMAGING A MODEL HYBRIDOMA SECRETION ASSAY WHICH WILL IDENTIFY BOTH HYBRIDOMAS SECRETING HIGHER AMOUNTS OF ANTIBODY AND ALLOW RECOVERY FOR USE IN BIOTECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS.