# Design of an integrated microdevice to measure malignant lipid signaling in single cells from clinical samples

> **NIH CA R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2026 · $639,702

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
Engineering advances applied to miniaturized analytical instrumentation will be employed to improve
sensitivity and throughput of thin-layer chromatography enabling single-cell analyses of the biochemical
activity of lipid modifying enzymes in the cells of patients. By utilizing micro- and nanofabrication techniques,
the proposed work will develop a novel ultra-miniaturized device termed picoliter thin-layer chromatography
(pTLC) suitable for assays at high throughput and sensitivity. A multidisciplinary collaboration encompassing
bioengineering, chemistry and oncology will develop the pTLC chip and integrate its supporting hardware to
create an easy-to-use instrument readily amenable to point-of-care applications in a clinical setting. Sample
handling and analysis protocols will be developed to ensure system compatibility with common laboratory
workflows. The improvements engendered by miniaturized chromatography and nanofabrication of silica gels
in this lab-on-chip device will enable experiments that demonstrate the potential and power of the platform by
assessing of the roles of specific enzyme targets in dynamic reprogramming underlying resistance to
chemotherapy in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The technique will capitalize on recent synthetic
lipid innovations to employ a large and growing list of commercially available, cell-loadable, fluorescent, and
clickable lipid probes now available or in development. These probes will be used to simultaneously elucidate
enzyme activity in the sphingolipid, phosphoinositide and fatty acid signaling pathways hypothesized to serve
critical roles in developing resistance to targeted therapies. By simultaneously tracking multiple signaling
pathways in individual patient cells, we will identify the strategies that AML cells use to dynamically reprogram
their growth-promoting pathways during and after drug treatment. A powerful attribute of these measurements
is their performance on si

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11310207
- **Project number:** 5R01CA293085-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Nancy L. Allbritton
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** CA
- **Fiscal year:** 2026
- **Award amount:** $639,702
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2025-04-01T00:00:00 → 2030-03-31T00:00:00

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11310207

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11310207, Design of an integrated microdevice to measure malignant lipid signaling in single cells from clinical samples (5R01CA293085-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-07-09 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11310207. Licensed CC0.

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