Zellsortiersystem

• Subject Area: Microbiology, Virology and Immunology
• Term: Funded in 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 431349925

Our work focuses on the analysis of B cell and antibody responses against clinically relevant pathogens such as HIV, HCV, or Ebola. We use our findings to develop antibody-based therapies and inform on novel vaccination strategies. In the last years, we have been able to identify highly potent antibodies that we also successfully tested in clinical trials. Our advanced single cell cloning methods critically rely on multicolor flow cytometry with bulk and single cell sorting applications. With these methods, we are able to isolate specific cell populations, such as naive or memory B cells, by labeling them with fluorescent dyes. Several labels are necessary to yield a pure B cell sub-population, which in turn requires an instrument with several excitation lasers, emission filters, and detectors. Since we work with infectious materials (BSL2), the instrument further needs to be operated within a safety cabinet. We already have all necessary permissions to conduct these kind of experiments, but are currently working on a rental instrument with a fixed expiration of the rental contract. Thus, we apply for funding for a flow cytometer with single cell sorting function in order to continue our intensive research on novel vaccination- and therapy strategies.We have optimized our single cell cloning methods in the past and currently reached a capacity limit due to technical and structural limitations, which hampers the realization of our ongoing and planed projects. Based on our experience in manual single cell cloning, we plan to build an automated single cell platform for antibody analysis and screening. With this, we aim to (i) increase the sample throughput, (ii) reduce overall costs by volume reduction, and (iii) ensure a high quality among all analyses independent of any experimenter. To this end, we apply for funding for a liquid handling robot, that is able to process several sample in a 384-well plate format in parallel. The automation will allow us to identify therapeutically applicable antibodies against established and emerging infectious diseases in a shorter time frame and thereby strengthen our national and international position as an antibody analysis center of excellence.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Zellsortiersystem
• Instrumentation Group: 3500 Zellzähl- und Klassiergeräte (außer Blutanalyse), Koloniezähler
• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Köln
• Leader: Professor Dr. Florian Klein