MEAM Seminar: “Microscopic Mayhem: Cancer in Three-Dimensions”
April 15, 2025 at 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
Critical to advancing immunotherapy and cell therapy in cancer is developing a deeper understanding pf the dynamics of immune cell-mediated cytotoxicity. The results from the multidisciplinary effort reported here include numerous measurements and movies of immune cell-mediated cytotoxicity with striking examples of serial killing, foraging, path-tracking, cytokine gradients at tumor margins, and killing dynamics, in some cases revealing peak apoptotic signatures just minutes after T Cell engagement.
In vitro studies of immune cell killing are traditionally performed using time-lapse imaging and biochemical assays, but these methods are often limited by spatial and temporal resolution, throughput, and the ability to extract the dynamics of cellular interactions. This study integrates high-resolution and high-speed laser scanning confocal microscopy with artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) approaches to provide a high-resolution data-driven analysis of immune cell killing dynamics in vitro.
We have engineered a perfusion-enabled 3D culture system integrated microscopy to assess cellular dynamics for extended periods of time. Perfusion culture maintains the interstitial flow of liquid culture media, clearing the microenvironment of toxic metabolites and reactive oxygen species. This platform uses a Liquid-Like Solids (LLS) to mimic the transport dynamics of a capillary bed. Integrated microscopy allows in situ quantification of spatiotemporal cytokine concentrations, immune cell tracking, immune cell killing dynamics, and invasion dynamics.
W. Gregory Sawyer
N. C. Ebaugh Professor and a Distinguished Teaching Scholar, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida
Greg Sawyer is a professor, engineer, scientist, cancer researcher and cancer survivor who has turned his attention from space systems to exploring new frontiers in the battle against cancer. Greg was a member of the original Mars Rover design team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and his approach to cancer research follows a multidisciplinary team approach. A major goal of his research is to allow scientists to visualize and interact with cancer using bio-printing techniques and other tools pioneered in Soft Matter Engineering. Greg is a member of the National Academy of Inventors, Tribology Gold Medal winner, holds over 20 patents, has authored over 200 scientific publications, has been cited over 18,000 times, and has mentored dozens of PhD students – many of whom are now faculty members and researchers working at the interfaces between engineering, science, and biomedicine.