Cell avidity analyzer

About This Grant

PROJECT SUMMARY We propose to acquire an Avidion Cell Avidity analyzer from LUMICKS to support research on a broad range of biological questions at Yale University. It has long been understood that important physiological processes are regulated by the mechanical forces involved in cell interactions ranging from endothelial tight junctions to neuronal synapses to immune cell synapses. Yet, the ability to measure the strength of these interactions has been limited to highly technical, low throughput assays that probe only a single cell at a time. Less than a decade ago LUMICKS developed the z-Movi to measure cell-cell interaction strength on 100s of cells by acoustic force applied to a fluorescent cell interacting with a monolayer of cells on a glass plate. The PI, Samuel Katz, along with several other investigators at Yale have integrated this technology into our workflows and found it to provide meaningful measurements that accelerated our research. Based on this positive preliminary experience multiple other investigators have inquired about incorporating avidity measurements in their research programs, but the number of users that can complete an experiment on the current system each day is limiting. The recently developed LUMICKS Avidion has increased the throughput by an order of magnitude capable of approximately 200 measurements a day and two to three users. Moreover, it has expanded to four-color fluorescence in order to measure heterogenous cell populations and correlate Cell Avidity with other cell reporters. The automated nature of the Avidion with straightforward software for analysis further improves widespread usability. While this proposal nominally showcases 5 major users and 11 other users of this novel technology, multiple other investigators have expressed interest. The user base represents 12 different departments ranging from basic biologic inquiry to clinical translational uses. The requested instrument will be installed in a shared core facility at Yale, where it will support a large community of NIH-funded researchers studying cancer, autoimmunity, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, inflammatory and other diseases. The absence of another commercially available or homemade alternative with the singular capabilities of the Avidion at Yale and the large NIH-funded userbase performing groundbreaking, high-impact research in a multitude of fields underscores the necessity for this advanced equipment.