Nano device detects immune cell signaling

NASHVILLE, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have detected previously unnoticed chemical signals that individual cells in the immune system use to communicate with each other.

Vanderbilt University researchers led by Professor John Wikswo said the newly discovered signals originate in dendritic cells -- the "sentinels" of the immune system that do the initial detection of microscopic invaders. The scientists determined the signals were received by nearby T-cells, which play a number of crucial roles in the immune system, including coordinating attacks on agents that cause disease or infection.

The chemical signal exchange that occurs when cells come into contact has been studied extensively, the scientists said. But until now it's been impossible to detect chemical messages called paracrine signals, that travel between cells that are nearby, but not in contact, because they are highly localized and are produced in concentrations that have been below detection levels.

The researchers said they created a new technology, called a multi-trap nanophysiometer, to demonstrate the existence of non-contact signaling.

A detailed description of the multi-trap nanophysiometer and the research itself appears online in the journal Lab on a Chip.