Photo-caged immunostimulants have recently emerged as a method to control the spatio-temporal parameters of immune cell activation. Here we present a route to photo-sensitized immune cells via passive labeling of quiescent immune cells with a rationally designed photo-switchable Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) 2/6 antagonist/agonist peptide sequence. We show that this method allows selective labeling and cell-specific stimulation in co-culture. Control over temporal activation was exploited in pulse-chase type experiments to accurately determine onset times across a variety of immune cell types. Spatially confined activation via 2-photon microscopy was used to activate individual cells or immune cell subtypes in co-culture. This method was used to non-invasively probe communication of a variety immune cell types including primary bone-marrow derived dendritic cells with fibroblasts and T cells. We expect this class of photo-switchable probes to find use in determining immune response origins thereby further elucidating the nature of the link between innate and adaptive immunity.

Photosensitized immune cells via photoswitchable toll-like receptor 2/6 peptides

248th National Meeting (2014)

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