Abstract

Intelligent Droplet Screen for High-Throughput Single Cell Level Tumor Profiling on Extracellular Matrix

Chia-Hung Chen, Associate Professor, City University of Hong Kong

Precision cancer treatment refers to providing a personalized therapeutic strategy in time to maximize treatment efficiency and minimize the side effect of drugs. Individual cancer cells interact with the extracellular matrix (ECM), showing distinct endogenous drug resistance and therapeutic responses. The responses of cancer cells to mechanical cues from the ECM especially influence cancer progression and metastasis. It is therefore becoming clear that comprehensive approaches are needed to address single-cell functional profiling of patient tumor samples.  The overall goals of this study are as follows: 1. develop an intelligent high-throughput single-cell screening platform integrated with smart hydrogel technology that allows the isolation of treatment-resistant cancer cells on ECM in patient tumors with an ultrahigh throughput of ~100 cells/second; and 2. identify and validate candidate therapeutic targets and biomarkers for rare critical cells representing drug treatment-resistant and/or metastatic subclones for therapeutic stratification. The hypothesis-driven therapeutics could be tested to provide a rationale for the inclusion of novel therapeutic targets and repositioning of existing drugs in cancer treatment regimens.