Cell and gene therapy manufacturing solutions expert Limula has published an article the Cell Press journal, Molecular Therapy – Methods & Clinical Development, which details the benefits of high-intensity lasers in mRNA CAR-T cell manufacturing.
The piece, titled "Magnetic bead-sensitized optoporation coupled with antibodies-based activation for mRNA CAR-T cell manufacturing", discusses the company's novel method for non-viral gene transfer.
The technology was developed through a collaboration between the team at Limula and Professor Denis Migliorini from the University of Geneva, and allows for the effective loading of synthetic molecular payloads into the cells.
Based on optoporation, the researchers describe a method that uses high-intensity lasers to make a cell's membrane temporarily permeable.
By permabilising the cell membrane, molecular payloads — whether mRNA or CRISPR proteins, can enter the cells.
Notably, the authors of the article state that the process can be efficiently catalysed by magnetic particles, which are commonly using in the cell therapy manufacturing process.
The main contributor to the study, Dr Noelia Maldonado-Pérez, commented: “It's very satisfying to share the outcome of this project with the broader cell therapy community. The discovery that common cell activation reagents could be repurposed to catalyse the introduction of genetic material into human cells is very exciting.”
Cell activation is a criticial step in the CAR-T cell therapy manufacturing process, which is often followed by a gene transfer step.
Although there are still challenges associated with the application of the method to the production of clinical-grade products, Dr Maldonado-Pérez notes that "the possibility of sequencing two different unit operations without the need for additional reagents could open novel avenues for streamlined production methods,"
Prof. Denis Migliorini concluded: “We believe magnetic bead-sensitised optoporation represents an interesting addition to the toolbox available to cell therapy developers.”