Projects
Node-Pore Sensing
Chang Chen, Taylor Thomsen, Woochul Kim, Emilie Petit, William Rosas-Liu, Corey Pierce
Node-Pore Sensing (NPS) is a microfluidic platform technology, which through a simple electronic measurement, is capable of immunophenotyping and mechnophenotyping single cells. We previously demonstrated NPS power and flexiblity by immunophenotyping leukemic blasts in acute myeloid leukemia patient bone marrow and mechanically phenotyping primary human mammary epithelial cells, successfully identifying sub-lineages, chronological age differences.
More recently, we have used “mechano-NPS” to screen the response of acute promyelocytic leukemia cells to all-trans retinoic acid and to measure the nuclear stiffness of C. elegans oocytes. We are currently advancing NPS to include both immunophenotyping and mechanophenotyping and employing machine learning as a means to sort cells and nuclei based on phenotype.
Ongoing Collaborations:
Michael Lusting (UC Berkeley) to encode our NPS devices with codes used in radar, Wi-Fi, and telecommunications for real-time analysis and coincidence correction
Amanda Randles (Duke University) to develop a "digital twin" of mechano-NPS in order to widen the scope of measured cell biophysical markers that we can measure
Mark LaBarge (City of Hope) to mechanophenotype primary human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs) and subsequently assess breast cancer risk and uncover emergent properties of underlying molecular networks that define lineage and disease states
Kara McKinley (Harvard) to diagnose endometriosis via menstrual blood
Chenshu Liu (Lehigh University) to investigate the mechanical stability of the oocyte nuclear envelope in C. elegans; such stability is essential for maintaining oocyte quantity and ovarian reserve.
CandyCollect Saliva Sampling
Corey Pierce
In a collaboration with Ashleigh Theberge (University of Washington), we are employing Theberge’s innovative CandyCollect platform to capture extracellular vesicles (EVs) in saliva. We are enumerating the captured EVs (and the subpopulations we have identified) using a unique oligo-tagging/PCR method we previously developed to detect viruses. We are also collaborating with Alana Ogata (University of Toronto Mississauga) to investigate the cargo of the captured EVs using Simoa and with Haiyan Huang (UC Berkeley) to identify signatures of the EVs that would correspond to individuals who have Alzheimer’s Disease or Mild Cogitive Impairement.
DNA-Directed Patterning
Pritika Acharya, Trinity Ellis, Maia Jeanneau, Corey Pierce
DNA-directed patterning is platform that we developed in a collaboration with David Schaffer (UC Berkeley). It leverages Watson-Crick base pairing and photolithography to pattern cells, ligands, and antibodies with lithographic resolution from microns to millmeters in “one shot.” We have used this patterning method to pattern antibodies in our NPS platform to perform immunophenotyping and to investigate how the spatial presentation of two competing niche ligands (FGF-2 and ephrin B-2) instructs neural stem cell fate at the single-cell level. Currently, we are using this innovative method to advance our understanding of cellular plasticity (i.e. epithelial-mesenchymal transition) in breast epithelial cells as a function of age.
Node-Pore Sensing
Chang Chen, Taylor Thomsen, Woochul Kim, Emilie Petit, William Rosas-Liu, Corey Pierce
Node-Pore Sensing (NPS) is a microfluidic platform technology, which through a simple electronic measurement, is capable of immunophenotyping and mechnophenotyping single cells. We previously demonstrated NPS power and flexiblity by immunophenotyping leukemic blasts in acute myeloid leukemia patient bone marrow and mechanically phenotyping primary human mammary epithelial cells, successfully identifying sub-lineages, chronological age differences.
More recently, we have used “mechano-NPS” to screen the response of acute promyelocytic leukemia cells to all-trans retinoic acid and to measure the nuclear stiffness of C. elegans oocytes. We are currently advancing NPS to include both immunophenotyping and mechanophenotyping and employing machine learning as a means to sort cells and nuclei based on phenotype.
Ongoing Collaborations:
Michael Lusting (UC Berkeley) to encode our NPS devices with codes used in radar, Wi-Fi, and telecommunications for real-time analysis and coincidence correction
Amanda Randles (Duke University) to develop a "digital twin" of mechano-NPS in order to widen the scope of measured cell biophysical markers that we can measure
Mark LaBarge (City of Hope) to mechanophenotype primary human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs) and subsequently assess breast cancer risk and uncover emergent properties of underlying molecular networks that define lineage and disease states
Kara McKinley (Harvard) to diagnose endometriosis via menstrual blood
Chenshu Liu (Lehigh University) to investigate the mechanical stability of the oocyte nuclear envelope in C. elegans; such stability is essential for maintaining oocyte quantity and ovarian reserve.
CandyCollect Saliva Sampling
Corey Pierce
In a collaboration with Ashleigh Theberge (University of Washington), we are employing Theberge’s innovative CandyCollect platform to capture extracellular vesicles (EVs) in saliva. We are enumerating the captured EVs (and the subpopulations we have identified) using a unique oligo-tagging/PCR method we previously developed to detect viruses. We are also collaborating with Alana Ogata (University of Toronto Mississauga) to investigate the cargo of the captured EVs using Simoa and with Haiyan Huang (UC Berkeley) to identify signatures of the EVs that would correspond to individuals who have Alzheimer’s Disease or Mild Cogitive Impairement.
DNA-Directed Patterning
Pritika Acharya, Trinity Ellis, Maia Jeanneau, Corey Pierce
DNA-directed patterning is platform that we developed in a collaboration with David Schaffer (UC Berkeley). It leverages Watson-Crick base pairing and photolithography to pattern cells, ligands, and antibodies with lithographic resolution from microns to millmeters in “one shot.” We have used this patterning method to pattern antibodies in our NPS platform to perform immunophenotyping and to investigate how the spatial presentation of two competing niche ligands (FGF-2 and ephrin B-2) instructs neural stem cell fate at the single-cell level. Currently, we are using this innovative method to advance our understanding of cellular plasticity (i.e. epithelial-mesenchymal transition) in breast epithelial cells as a function of age.
