ForCell
Advanced therapeutics by leveraging mechanical forces
ForCell has developed a technology that offers the possibility to tailor mechanical forces to the specific differentiation pathways of blood stem cells to enhance the production of mature cell types such as red blood cells and platelets.
By exerting mechanical forces on blood cells for up to 60 minutes, we can also deform cell membranes precisely and transport target molecules and different sized cargo more efficiently.
The technology can also serve as a rapid diagnostic platform to assess the impact of drugs on cell membranes all the way up to complete cell lysis. The precise application of compressive forces will permit measurement of cell integrity as individual molecules or combinations of molecules are added. The efficacy of antibiotics that aim to kill bacteria by damaging their cell membranes can be tested rapidly/instantly, thereby dramatically reducing the cost and time required to execute current protocols.
Directed Differentiation
Our proof-of-concept data shows that the application of compressive forces for short periods of 30-60 minutes can direct the differentiation of blood progenitor cells without altering growth factors, hormones, or other regulatory molecules. Our ability to precisely control the timing and magnitude of compressive stresses permits optimisation of conditions to direct the differentiation of stem and progenitor cells through to specific mature cell states.
Cargo Delivery
By exerting mechanical forces on blood cells for up to 60 minutes, we can deform cell membranes precisely and transport target molecules and different sized cargo more efficiently. We have already shown that application of compressive forces increases transduction efficiencies in primary blood stem and progenitor cells.
Cell membrane deformation techniques offer a novel approach to combine cell engineering and intracellular molecule delivery, saving time and money while not introducing any additional chemical or molecular perturbations.
Membrane integrity screening in bacteria
ForCell offers a rapid diagnostic platform which can assess the impact of drugs on cell membranes all the way up to complete cell lysis. The precise application of compressive forces will permit measurement of cell integrity as individual molecules or combinations of molecules are added. The efficacy of antibiotics that aim to kill bacteria by damaging their cell membranes can be tested rapidly, thereby dramatically reducing the cost and time required to execute current protocols.
ForCell Team
Rasha Rezk
Founder
David Kent
Founder
Contact ForCell
Get in touch with our team to learn more about our project and register your interest. We’d particularly love to hear from clinical development organisations, biotechnology companies and life science research bodies.