Label-Free Measurement of T-Cell Activation by Microfluidic Acoustophoresis

Measuring the activation state of T-cells is critical to studies in immunology and to advances in immunotherapy. Currently activation is typically measured by flow cytometry, which requires “labeling” the cells with antibody-linked fluorescent dyes. Labeling is costly and alters cell function, restricting its use in many applications. Here we present for the first time a new method for quantitative measurement of T-cell activation that requires no modification to the cell and no antibodies. Instead we adapted an established platform for microfluidic acoustic cell separation and exploited differences in mechanical properties between the activated and resting cells. Furthermore we show that the same device can enrich activated T-cells from a partially activated population. This approach could in the future aid clinical processing for treating cancer and infectious disease.