Bioorthogonal Click Chemistry-Based Synthetic Cell Glue

Abstract

Artificial methods of cell adhesion can be effective in building functional cell complexes in vitro, but methods for in vivo use are currently lacking. Here, we introduce a chemical cell glue based on bioorthogonal click chemistry with high stability and robustness. Tetrazine (Tz) and trans-cyclooctene (TCO) conjugated to the cell surface form covalent bonds between cells within 10 min in aqueous conditions. Glued, homogeneous or heterogeneous cell pairs remain viable and stably attached in a microfluidic flow channel at a shear stress of 20 dyn/cm ². Upon intravenous injection of assembled Jurkat T cells into live mice, fluorescence microscopy showed the trafficking of cell pairs in circulation and their infiltration into lung tissues. Our results demonstrate the promising potential of chemically glued cell pairs for various applications ranging from delivering therapeutic cells to studying cell-cell interactions in vivo.

The table of contents

Bioorthogonal click chemistry-based cell glue enabled synthethic cell-cell adhesion with high stability and robustness. Tetrazine (Tz) and trans-cyclooctene (TCO) conjugated to the cell surface form covalent bonds between cells within 10 min in aqueous conditions. Glued cells remain viable and stably attached in blood flow. It has potential for biomedical applications ranging from delivering therapeutic cells to studying cell-cell interactions in vivo.