SERS Analysis Of Sialic Acid In Single Dendritic Cells Within The Tumor Microenvironment

The crucial role of Dendritic Cells (DCs) in anti-tumor immune responses depends on surface Sialic Acid (SA). The regulation of DC surface sialic acid in the Tumor Microenvironment (TME) remains underexplored. Current methods struggle to provide highly sensitive, multiplex analyses of SA and other immune protein changes in single DCs within the tumor microenvironment. Here, we employed a SERS tags method for specific and highly sensitive analysis of SA, MHCII, CD86, and CD40 in DCs using a single DC analysis microfluidic platform. We also explored the differential regulatory effects of various immune-modulating drugs and tumor supernatant on multiple immunophenotypes of DCs in different immune states. The expanded two-cell microfluidic system further allows for phenotypic analysis of DCs at different time points within the tumor microenvironment. Given this method enables highly sensitive single-cell analysis of DCs, further development of this technology for tumor microenvironment applications will aid in deeply understanding the tumor-induced suppression of DC immune function, providing valuable insights for DC-mediated tumor immunotherapy research.