Secreted proteins determine a range of cellular functionalities correlated with human health and disease progression. Because of cell heterogeneity, it is essential to measure low abundant protein secretions from individual cells to determine single‐cell activities. In this study, an integrated platform consisting of smart hydrogel immunosensors for the sensitive detection of single‐cell secretions is developed. A single cell and smart hydrogel microparticles are encapsulated within a droplet. After incubation, target secreted proteins from the cell are captured in the smart hydrogel particle for immunoassay. The temperature‐induced volume phase transition of the hydrogel biosensor allows the concentration of analytes within the gel matrix to increase, enabling high‐sensitivity measurements. Distinct heterogeneity for live cell secretions is determined from 6000 cells within 1 h. This method is tested for low abundant essential secretions, such as interleukin‐6, interleukin‐8, and monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 secretions of both suspended cells (HL60) and adherent cells (MCF7 and MDA‐MB‐231). This platform is highly flexible and can be used to simultaneously measure a wide range of clinically relevant cellular secretions; it thus represents a novel tool for precise biological assays.

中文翻译：

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智能水凝胶微流控技术，用于高灵敏度的单细胞多重分泌组学分析

分泌的蛋白质决定了一系列与人类健康和疾病进展相关的细胞功能。由于细胞异质性，必须测量单个细胞的低丰度蛋白质分泌以确定单细胞活性。在这项研究中，开发了一个由智能水凝胶免疫传感器组成的集成平台，用于敏感检测单细胞分泌物。单细胞和智能水凝胶微粒被封装在液滴中。孵育后，来自细胞的靶标分泌蛋白被捕获在智能水凝胶颗粒中以进行免疫测定。水凝胶生物传感器的温度诱导体积相变使凝胶基质中分析物的浓度增加，从而实现了高灵敏度的测量。在1小时内从6000个细胞中确定了活细胞分泌的明显异质性。该方法针对悬浮细胞（HL60）和贴壁细胞（MCF7和MDA-MB-231）的低大量必需分泌物（例如白细胞介素6，白细胞介素8和单核细胞趋化蛋白1分泌物）进行了测试。该平台具有高度的灵活性，可用于同时测量多种临床相关的细胞分泌物。因此，它代表了一种用于精确生物学测定的新颖工具。该平台具有高度的灵活性，可用于同时测量多种临床相关的细胞分泌物。因此，它代表了一种用于精确生物学测定的新颖工具。该平台具有高度的灵活性，可用于同时测量多种临床相关的细胞分泌物。因此，它代表了一种用于精确生物学测定的新颖工具。