3D ECM-inflammation model on a microfluidic chip for neutrophil transmigration from whole blood investigations
Dr. Ron Davis, the Director of OMF’s Collaborative Center at Stanford University, and his team recently published a paper on their work creating a microfluidic chip that can recreate an inflammation event and isolate neutrophils from a small volume of whole blood.
When whole blood is placed on the microfluidic chip, neutrophils are drawn through an extracellular matrix collagen and membrane toward chemoattractant—simulating how neutrophils travel to an inflammation event in the body. The team was able to maximize how many neutrophils made it through the membrane alive and on their own by optimizing the collagen, chemoattractant, and blood concentrations. Ultimately, this proof-of-concept indicates this platform can be used to better understand neutrophil behavior.
LIVE EVENT | OMF JOURNAL CLUB
Want to hear more?
If you want to dive deeper into this paper, join Dr. Danielle Meadows, OMF’s VP of Research Programs, for another session of OMF Journal Club on June 10 at 2pm ET.
During the session, Dr. Meadows will talk through the main ideas of the paper, the figures, and the implications for people with ME/CFS and Long COVID. If you’re not able to join the session live, a recording will be sent to all registrants.
The Bigger Picture
Neutrophil dysfunction is associated with chronic inflammation conditions, and there is evidence of differences in neutrophils between people with ME/CFS and controls (e.g., increased cell death, decreased surface proteins).
Previous ways of looking at neutrophils outside the body have been limited, though. This platform facilitates an improved understanding of neutrophil migration and invasion, which can be used for assessing neutrophil behavior in ME/CFS going forward.
This manuscript is part of the Neutrophil Assessment Platform project. Read the full paper in Lab on a Chip.
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