Panel Presentation: Luminex Imaging and Flow Cytometry in Immuno-Oncology

Advancements in immuno-oncology have been moving at an ever-quickening pace. From the development of new CAR-T therapies to a better understanding of the mechanism of action of monoclonal antibody treatments, the field has advanced through diligent research supported by technologies that enable scientists to make new discoveries. One critical technology that helps advance this research is imaging flow cytometry (IFC). In this seminar, we will briefly describe the Amnis® ImageStream®X Mk II IFC system and highlight how it can synergize with other techniques as an orthogonal method to validate scientific observations. We will describe some of the core applications that have been greatly enhanced by IFC, including how images can be used to measure T cell activation after binding antigen-presenting cells (APCs), quantify immune synapse formation, characterize CRISPR/CAS9-edited CAR-T cells in finding target cells, and use cell morphology to identify cell death from chemotherapeutic agents. We will also show more traditional flow cytometry approaches to cellular-based assays, including accurate count and viability determination of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), characterization of cellular subsets, and dissection of naïve and memory sub-populations using our Guava® and CellStream® technologies. Examples of multiparametric cellular health assays and their insights in the cellular response will also be discussed. Lastly, we will explain how using the CellStream® to identify circulating extracellular vesicles enables the identification of a known biomarker for certain malignancies.

Learning Objectives:

1. Demonstrate the utility of using imaging flow cytometry to gain a better understanding of how immune cells are used in oncology research.

2. Explain the advantages of using microcapillary flow in absolute counting of Blood/PBMC evaluations.

3. Discuss using flow cytometry to gain insights into how extracellular vesicles are involved in cancer communication.