(AcCellerator L1)-Special Notice-(Final)-(6-15-2020).pdf

General Information

Title Probing the biophysical regulation of metastasis Document Type Special Notice - Notice of Intent to Sole Source Solicitation Number 75N91020P00517-97 Posted Date 06/15/2020 Response Date 06/25/2020 12:30 PM EST Classification Code J066 – MAINTAIN/REPAIR/REBUILD OF EQUIPMENT –

INSTRUMENTS AND LABORATORY EQUIPMENT

NAICS Code 541714 – Research and Development in Biotechnology (except

Nanobiotechnology)

Contracting Office Address:

Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Office of Acquisitions, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 1E576, Bethesda, MD 20892, UNITED STATES.

Description:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Center for Cancer Research (CCR), Lab of Cell Biology (LCB), Office of Acquisitions (OA) plans to procure, on a sole source a basis, a synchronized high-power illumination AcCellerator L1 from ZELLMECHANIK DRESDEN GmbH located at Tatzberg 47/49, 01307 Dresden, Germany

The response close date of this notice for this requirement is in accordance with FAR 5.203(a)(1).

This acquisition will be processed under FAR Part 12 – Acquisition for Commercial Items and will be made pursuant to the authority in FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) using simplified acquisition procedures for commercial acquisitions and is exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6. The North American Industry Classification System code is 541714 – Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology).

It has been determined there are no opportunities to acquire green products or services for this procurement.

BACKGROUND

Mechanical properties of cells have been suggested to be a viable biomarker in the development of novel therapeutics in cancer. However, CCR’s Lab Cell of Biology (LCB) has been limited in harnessing the power of this biomarker and the ability to robustly interrogate single cells in a high through-put manner is non-existent.

This is especially critical when (the LCB are assessing clinical samples as rapid phenotyping will be needed to fully take advantage of the paucity of these samples. Thus, a system is needed that is high-throughput and compatible with the handling of these types of samples. The bulk of the Lab’s current understanding of tissue mechanics is derived from characterization of mechanical properties of tissues, cells, and ECM hydrogels using bulk rheological or nm scale techniques such as Atomic force microscopy (AFM).

These nm scale techniques are useful to assess material properties, but do not possess the resolution that is needed to resolve length scales that are compatible with the micron size protrusions used by cells to interpret the environment]. A second caveat is that cells and tissue are viscoelastic, and few methods allow for studying both the elastic and viscous components simultaneously. LCB were able to directly quantitate the physical cues that a cell will see in vivo within native tissue, and in the presence of physiologic noise which enables us to determine how tumor cells adapt to the ECM in organ specific microenvironments. Cellular migration, cell phenotype and morphology are sensitive to the compliance and viscoelasticity of their immediate milieu. Using micron scale protrusions, cells can interpret these cues to drive signaling and transcription. The chemistry and bulk mechanics of 3D biomimetic hydrogels can be tailored by varying protein concentrations and crosslinking techniques. However, little is known about the mesoscale properties of different tissues in vivo and thus recreating or confirming physiologically relevant cues remain elusive.

To address this discrepancy, LCB recently developed optical trap based active microrheology. With the AcCellerator L1, LCB can image 10s of cells in a day. However, to scale to 1000s of cells and take advantage of valuable clinical samples, LCB would like to have a high throughput system to perform mechanical mapping. Using this information, LCB can glean from its optical trap system and can then separate clinical samples into different mechanical states and test the interplay between mechanical phenotype and disease states.

SPECIAL ORDER REQUIREMENTS/PRODUCT FEATURES/SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS

The following product features/characteristics are required for the synchronized high-power illumination AcCellerator L1:

Crucial parts of the AcCellerator such as the proprietary image processing and the unique synchronized high-power LED illumination are protected by patents. (PCT/EP2014/063532 and for the national phases under EP14732901.5, US 14/913,699). The synchronized high-power illumination AcCellerator L1 is crucial to “freeze” the motion of cells moving through the channel at more than 10 cm/s. The AcCellerator L1 high-power stroboscopic LED illumination system is able to control the light exposure time between 1 – 10 μs with a wavelength distribution (460 ± 20 nm) and the software Shape-In controls and triggers the illumination signal synchronized with the camera acquisition with jitter as low as 200 ns.

The specialized image processing algorithms included in Shape-In are unique because they are capable to process the image data on the fly without the need for buffering, thereby offering the user instantaneous feedback about the experimental outcome. Shape-In further controls the whole experiment and ensures correct operation of all parts of the AcCellerator while saving the resulting data in an open file format for later evaluation. The user-friendly sample holder (part of stage) which comes with the device is necessary to ensure stability of the microfluidic chip during the experiments. To NCI/CCR’s LCB’s knowledge and based on the aforementioned required outcomes, ZELLMECHANIK DRESDEN GmbH is the only known source that has a system available with the required features/characteristics, and also has the capability to achieve the intended performance.

This notice is not a request for competitive quotation. However, if any interested party, especially small businesses, believes it can meet the above requirement, it may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency.

The statement of capabilities and any other information furnished must be in writing and must contain material in sufficient detail to allow the NCI to determine if the party can perform the requirement.

Responses must be received no later than 12:30PM EST, on June 25, 2020. All responses and questions must be in writing and emailed to:

Jonathan E. Rudd, II, Contracting Officer via electronic mail at jonathan.rudd@nih.gov.

A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. No collect calls will be accepted. In order to receive an award, Contractors must be registered and have valid, current Entity Record, including current Representations and Certifications, in the System for Award Management (SAM) through SAM.gov. Reference:

75N91020P00517-97 on all correspondence.

mailto:jonathan.rudd@nih.gov