María Fernanda Cadena

Chagas disease remains a major neglected tropical disease, highlighting the need for new anti-Trypanosoma cruzi compounds and improved approaches for their phenotypic evaluation. Here, we extended a previously developed Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) platform integrating a serial dilution generator and automated label-free motility analysis (TR_KF) to the direct screening of extracellular T. cruzi trypomastigotes. The platform was validated in two steps using benznidazole as the reference drug. First, automated motility quantification in conventional 96-well plates was compared with manual Neubauer counting, yielding comparable concentration–response curves and IC₅₀ values. Second, the complete LOC–TR_KF platform was compared with the conventional assay, producing an IC₅₀ that was not significantly different from the reference method. The validated platform was subsequently applied to screen ten candidate samples, identifying combinatorial libraries 2161-X and 2160-X as the most active against trypomastigotes. Comparison with previously reported intracellular amastigote data revealed marked stage-dependent differences in compound activity, while pre-treatment with both libraries reduced parasite infectivity by approximately 50%. Overall, the integrated LOC–TR_KF platform provides pharmacological responses comparable to conventional assays while reducing assay-solution requirements, manual handling and enabling automated, label-free phenotypic screening of T. cruzi trypomastigotes.

T cells play a pivotal role in cancer research, particularly in immunotherapy, which harnesses the immune system to target malignancies. However, conventional expansion methods face limitations such as high reagent consumption, contamination risks, and difficulties in maintaining suspension cells in dynamic culture environments. This study presents a microfluidic system for long-term culture of non-adherent cells, featuring automated perfusion and image acquisition. The system integrates deep learning-based image analysis, which quantifies cell coverage and estimates cell numbers, and efficiently processes large volumes of data. The performance of this deep learning approach was benchmarked against the widely used Trainable Weka Segmentation (TWS) plugin for Fiji. Additionally, two distinct lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices were evaluated independently: the commercial ibidi^® LOC and a custom-made PDMS LOC. The setup supported the proliferation of Jurkat cells and primary human T cells without significant loss during medium exchange. Each platform proved suitable for long-term expansion while offering distinct advantages in terms of design, cell seeding and recovery, and reusability. This integrated approach enables extended experiments with minimal manual intervention, stable perfusion, and supports multi-reagent administration, offering a powerful platform for advancing suspension cell research in immunotherapy.

INTRODUCCIÓN: El nuevo virus SARS-CoV-2 es causante de una enfermedad llamada COVID-19 que puede tornarse grave e incluso mortal. El número de casos y fallecidos reportados y el impacto a nivel socioeconómico dan una idea de la gravedad a nivel global que ha generado el mismo. Al ser un nuevo virus, se desconoce aún varios aspectos de este, por lo que el objetivo de este artículo es resumir los principales descubrimientos en torno a este nuevo virus y analizar los efectos de este en Argentina durante el primer trimestre del año en curso, con énfasis en la tasa de infección, la tasa de mortalidad y los casos recuperados para evaluar si las medidas de aislamiento y protección han sido efectivas. DESARROLLO: Para esto se graficó el número de infectados, número de recuperados y número de fallecidos bajo diferentes enfoques, además de realizar una revisión de la literatura sobre su origen, mecanismo de infección, síntomas, métodos de diagnóstico, tratamiento, vacuna y medidas de atenuación. CONCLUSIÓN: Se concluye que aún quedan muchos vacíos que llenar sobre información de este virus para poder aplicar una solución farmacológica, mientras tanto la recomendación por parte de la Organización Mundial de la Salud y el Ministerio de Salud Argentino es mantener el distanciamiento social y el uso obligatorio de mascarillas.