Safe and Efficient CRISPR Genome Editing of Primary Human T Cells Using a Droplet‐Based Cell Mechanoporation Platform
T cell engineering is a transformative strategy for adoptive cell therapy, holding the key to treating a wide array of human diseases. However, clinical translation is limited by current intracellular delivery methods that compromise viability, induce stress responses, and restrict scalability. This study presents a microfluidic droplet mechanoporation system tailored for primary human T cells, enabling efficient, stable, and clinically scalable gene delivery. Delivery of 2000 kDa fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran achieves ∼98% efficiency and >90% post-treatment viability, even at high cell densities, supporting the rapid production of therapeutically relevant cell numbers. The platform efficiently delivers mRNA, achieving transfection efficiencies approaching 99%; further, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-encoding mRNA is successfully delivered to generate CAR-expressing T cells with tunable surface expression. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas9 ribonucleoproteins are effectively delivered for both single and multiplex knockouts (TRAC and PDCD-1), achieving up to a 2.35-fold higher efficiency than electroporation. Longitudinal analyses confirm preserved viability, proliferation, genome integrity, and T cell phenotypic stability. Collectively, these results establish microfluidic droplet mechanoporation as a safe, efficient, and scalable platform for the clinical manufacturing of engineered T cell therapies.
Authors
- Aram J. Chung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4984-0222)
- You‐Jeong Kim
- Sungwon Bang
Institutions
- Korea University (KR)
- 490 BioTech (United States) (US)
- Department of Public (IN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Small
- Published
- 2026-02-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202512553
- Primary Topic
- Innovative Microfluidic and Catalytic Techniques Innovation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Research Foundation
- Korea University
- Sungkyunkwan University
- National Research Foundation of Korea
- Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea
- Samsung