Kwanghee Kim¹, Hyo Jin An², Seung-Hyun Jun², Tae-Jin Kim¹, Seon Ah Lim¹, Gayoung Park¹, Hyon Bin Na³, Yong Il Park³, Taeghwan Hyeon³, Cassian Yee⁴, Jeffrey A Bluestone⁵, Jungbae Kim^2,* Kyung-Mi Lee^{1, *}

¹Global Research Lab, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 136-713, Korea
²Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea
³National Creative Research Initiative Center for Oxide Nanocrystalline Materials and School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea
⁴Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
⁵Diabetes Center, and Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA

^* Address for correspondence: Kyung-Mi Lee, Jungbae Kim

Abstract
Electrospun polymer nanofibers with entrapped magnetic nanoparticles (magnetic NP-NF) represent a novel scaffold substrate which can be functionalized for single-step isolation and activation of specific lymphocyte subsets. Using a surface-embedded T cell receptor ligand/trigger (anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody), we demonstrate, as proof of principle, the use of magnetic NP-NF to specifically isolate, enrich, and activate CD3⁺ T cells from a heterogeneous cell mixture, leading to preferential expansion of CD8⁺CD3⁺ T cells. The large surface area, adjustable antibody density and embedded paramagnetic properties of the NP-NF permitted enhanced activation and expansion; its use represents a strategy that is amenable to an efficient selection process for adoptive cellular therapy as well as for the isolation of other cellular subsets for downstream translational applications.

Keywords: Electrospun magnetic nanofiber, CD4+ T lymphocytes, CD8+ T lymphocytes, anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, immune cell therapy