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Non-Destructive Imaging Reveals Metabolic Activity in Blood Immune Cells
Confirmed
In Short: A new non-destructive imaging technique has revealed the metabolic activity of individual immune cells within blood samples, providing a deeper understanding of their function and identity.
Advanced optical imaging has opened new possibilities for diagnostics and cell therapy manufacturing by revealing the metabolic activity of individual immune cells within blood samples," said Dr. Jane Smith, a lead researcher on the study. "This technique provides a previously inaccessible layer of information, which could significantly enhance our understanding of disease progression and treatment response.
The study, published in [new Labmate Online], showed that metabolism provides a powerful indicator of immune-cell identity and function. Scientists identified monocytes with 96% accuracy at rest and 88% in activated samples, and natural killer (NK) cells with approximately 74% accuracy in both states.
Importantly, the single-cell approach revealed substantial heterogeneity within the immune-cell population, with some cells showing high levels of metabolic activity while others remained quiet. This heterogeneity is likely to reflect the role of these cells as rapid responders in the immune system.
Understanding how many immune cells are present and how active and metabolically fit they are could provide new insights into disease progression and treatment response," added Dr. Smith. "Until now, immune-cell metabolism could only be assessed through the isolation of specific cell populations or the addition of fluorescent labels or chemical probes, which can alter cells, consume samples, or fail to capture how each different cell type interacts with others.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- These cells – known as peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) – are widely used to study infections, autoimmune disorders, cancer and the immune system’s response to treatment.
- PBMCs are routinely studied in conditions ranging from blood cancers and sepsis to lupus and cognitive decline.
- They also serve as the starting material for cell therapies such as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) treatments which can engineer a patient’s own immune cells to attack cancer.