Functional, Fast, and Unbiased TCR Discovery with Bruker’s Optofluidic Platform

A recent study by Zhang et al. highlights how Bruker’s Optofluidic Lightning® and Beacon® platforms can overcome traditional limitations and transform TCR discovery through functional, single-cell screening for both known antigens and epitope-agnostic patient samples. The workflow, referred to in the publication as MicroFAST (Microfluidic Function-based Screening of Antigen-specific Single T Lymphocytes), leverages Bruker’s optofluidic technology to identify true, functional TCRs.

By isolating single T cells in nanoliter pens and measuring single-cell cytokine secretion of IFN-γ, it identifies truly functional responders — not just cells that bind to dextramers or tetramers. This function-first, unbiased discovery approach redefines how we discover and harness TCRs for next-generation immunotherapies.