Connor Joyce
Research Mentor(s): Aaron Morris
Mentor Department: Biomedical Engineering
Authors: Connor Joyce, Sydney Wheeler, Aaron Morrs
Session: Session 1 (9:00am – 9:50am)
Presentation Type: Poster 24
Abstract
Chemokines are signaling proteins that the body produces in response to a foreign object. These proteins help to guide immune cells, such as B-cells, to infection sites and are an essential part of the body’s immune response. Incorporating these signaling molecules into biomaterials could create the potential for localized enrichment of immune cells. Initial in vitro studies were conducted to quantify the migration of a B-lymphoblast cell line, known as CESS cells, in response to two chemokines: Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 13 (CXCL13) and Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 14 (CXCL14), known to play a role in the recruitment of B-cells. In order to quantify chemotactic activity, the two chemokines were tested using a transwell assay with a cell permeable membrane involving both chemokines individually and as a combination, as well as a control consisting solely of cell media. All chemokine conditions yielded greater cell migration than the control, with CXCL14 demonstrating the strongest effect. Experiments investigating surface conjugation as a means of chemokine delivery were also performed using biomaterial poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLG) scaffolds. Cyanine3 amine fluorophore was used in place of chemokine to optimize this procedure as a result of the ability to visualize conjugation success using fluorescence imaging. Future experimentation will be done to test CXCL13 and CXCL14 for their chemotactic ability when loaded in biomaterial scaffolds. Ultimately, the localized B-cell environment created by the chemokine-conjugated scaffolds could allow for highly accessible monitorization of B-cell populations. These environments could prove extremely useful in future studies for investigating B-cells in both healthy and diseased organisms and provide a deeper understanding of exactly how B-cells function.
