Partillion's Nanovials Power Breakthrough Cell-Cell Interaction Mapping, Driving Call for Billion Cell × Cell Project

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Breakthrough insights into cell–cell communication powered by Partillion's Nanovials were spotlighted by Professor Dino Di Carlo, Chair of Bioengineering at UCLA, at Advances in Single Cell & Spatial Biology 2025.

Di Carlo introduced Cell-Cell Seq, a Nanovial-based method that isolates the interaction-induced gene expression of single-cell pairs. "Current tools tell us what a cell is or where it resides, but not how it responds when it meets another cell. With Cell-Cell Seq, we finally capture how cells change each other over time by directly measuring the gene expression programs triggered by physical proximity. This gives us a missing layer of causality in immune responses, tissue remodeling, and disease progression."

Building on this momentum, he announced the Billion Cell × Cell Project— an ambitious initiative to map emergent gene expression and functional outputs across a billion cell–cell interactions—and invited the community to participate.

Di Carlo presented findings from pairing prostate cancer cells with T cells in Nanovials, revealing stress responses, cytokine activation, and variable tumor-killing dynamics that provide new insights into immune evasion and therapeutic strategies. Attendees were enthusiastic, with Anand G. Patel of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital noting, "Our lab is focused on understanding why pediatric cancers recur and how the tumor microenvironment contributes to this process. To answer these questions, we need to study how cells interact, and it's exciting to see novel tools emerging that can help move this work forward."

This research is part of a broader effort by the Los Angeles–based Exploratory Cell Networks Consortium, which is advancing plans to create a Human Interactome Atlas—a global reference of cell–cell interactions. Partillion's Nanovials and Developer Kits are expected to play a central role in capturing and profiling interactions at scale.

About Partillion Bioscience
Partillion Bioscience is pioneering a functional cell analysis platform built on its award-winning Nanovial technology. The company enables pharmaceutical and biotech partners to accelerate therapeutic development by screening millions of live cells in parallel—capturing critical functional outputs such as secretion, signaling, and activation.

Partillion's technology has been featured in top journals and recognized with the SLAS Innovation Award, SLAS New Product Award, and CYTO Innovation & Technology Showcase Award.

SOURCE Partillion Bioscience