Keynote Presentation: Applying Nanovial Technology to Discover Rare T Cell Receptors with Live Q&A

Nanovials are emerging as an accessible platform for performing single-cell functional screening leveraging standard instrumentation, such as flow cytometers and microfluidic single-cell sequencing platforms. Each cell and its secreted products are captured in nanovials where they can be analyzed and sorted using widely available fluorescence activated cell sorters. I will first touch on previously demonstrated applications of using the nanovial platform to discover monoclonal antibodies and focus discussion on our recent work using nanovials for the selection of T cells based on their secretion of cytokines and downstream sequencing of T cell receptors (TCRs). Nanovials enable selective binding, functional characterization of secretion of cytokines and other effector molecules, followed by sorting of T cells for downstream sequencing of T cell receptor (TCR) alpha and beta chains, with functional annotation. Because both binding and cellular function can be assayed for millions of cells with standard equipment, this new "lab on a particle" approach can accelerate the discovery of monoclonal antibodies, cancer-specific TCRs, and TCRs against metabolites presented by unconventional major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-like molecules, with high accuracy, promising to transform the discovery of therapeutic antibodies and critical recognition elements for improved T cell therapies.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discover how nanovial-based workflows can accelerate discovery of T cell receptors (TCRs).

2. Summarize how to associate secreted information from single cells to transcriptomic information.

3. Review other discovery approaches and unique benefits for using nanovials for functional annotation of TCRs.