Sci. Transl. Med. 10, eaar2227 (2018)
A microneedle-based technology is a minimally invasive technique for monitoring immune responses directly in tissue.
Currently, systemic immune monitoring of individuals is carried out by blood draws. Localized monitoring of tissue-resident immunity can be assayed by delayed hypersensitivity tests, but these lack quantitative and phenotypic information regarding the local immune response.
Mandal et al. develop a microneedle-based technology for longitudinal sampling of cells from the skin, which takes the form of a porous matrix inserted into the skin allowing monitoring of skin tissue–resident memory T cells.
The technology could be used as a diagnostic in autoimmune disorders or to monitor responses to vaccines.
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Stower, H. Local immune monitoring. Nat Med 25, 19 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-018-0332-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-018-0332-z