Numerical optimization of microfluidic vortex shedding for genome editing T cells with Cas9

Sci Rep. 2021 Jun 3;11(1):11818. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-91307-y.

Abstract

Microfluidic vortex shedding (µVS) can rapidly deliver mRNA to T cells with high yield and minimal perturbation of the cell state. The mechanistic underpinning of µVS intracellular delivery remains undefined and µVS-Cas9 genome editing requires further studies. Herein, we evaluated a series of µVS devices containing splitter plates to attenuate vortex shedding and understand the contribution of computed force and frequency on efficiency and viability. We then selected a µVS design to knockout the expression of the endogenous T cell receptor in primary human T cells via delivery of Cas9 ribonucleoprotein (RNP) with and without brief exposure to an electric field (eµVS). µVS alone resulted in an equivalent yield of genome-edited T cells relative to electroporation with improved cell quality. A 1.8-fold increase in editing efficiency was demonstrated with eµVS with negligible impact on cell viability. Herein, we demonstrate efficient processing of 5 × 106 cells suspend in 100 µl of cGMP OptiMEM in under 5 s, with the capacity of a single device to process between 106 to 108 in 1 to 30 s. Cumulatively, these results demonstrate the rapid and robust utility of µVS and eµVS for genome editing human primary T cells with Cas9 RNPs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • CRISPR-Associated Protein 9 / metabolism*
  • CRISPR-Cas Systems*
  • Cell Survival
  • Gene Editing* / methods
  • Gene Expression
  • Gene Transfer Techniques
  • Genes, Reporter
  • Humans
  • Hydrodynamics
  • Microfluidics / methods*
  • Models, Theoretical
  • T-Lymphocytes / metabolism*
  • Transfection / methods
  • Transgenes

Substances

  • CRISPR-Associated Protein 9