Advances in high-content cellular imaging (HCI) and analysis have enabled researchers to obtain rich, quantitative data from cells and identify biologically relevant similarities and differences in their morphological profiles. Morphological profiling has been employed in cancer and toxicology research but has not been widely explored for the study of immune cells to date.
The study in this publication review provides a foundation for the development of morphological profiling as a scalable approach to monitor the immune synapse (IS), primary lymphocyte responsiveness and microarchitecture. Morphological profiling could also provide novel insights into the immunological synapses of CAR T cells and guide the design of novel CARs for therapeutic applications.