Cell biologists are hearing plenty of great news about products promising clean cell separations. Unlike the sticky separations of Hollywood celebrities, today’s cell separation techniques allow researchers to collect pure samples of specific cells free of erythrocytes or other unwanted cell types (and backbiting rumors and gossip). You can choose packages designed for benchtop studies, in addition to options for clinical-grade applications.
Traditionally, cell separations depended solely upon the centrifuge and its ability to segregate cells based on their differing densities. Using various types of media also helped researchers to hone in on specific cells. But these techniques resulted in separations far too crude for the detailed investigations of proteomics, cell signaling, disease development, and drug discovery.
Most techniques now aim to separate cells based on their cell surface markers, proteins that define their function and behavior. The improving quality of antibodies is helping to provide increasingly pure samples. Many researchers prefer to use magnetic beads, which cling to cells bearing the proteins specific for the antibodies tethered to the beads. You can find beads already prepared with antibodies to collect different types, such as immune cells, cancer cells, and stem cells for samples from humans, mice, rats, non-human primates, and other animal models. Or, you can attach your own antibodies.
With the negative isolation approach, the antibodies target unwanted cells such that only target cells remain in the sample. Positive selection uses antibodies to markers found exclusively on target cells. Applying a magnet to the sample, the magnetic beads with the payload of cells are instantly collected. A good number of researchers choose to separate cells using a column of resin-based beads of chromatography.
The development of flow cytometry was one step toward finer separations, which segregated cells based upon cell surface markers. But even this caused frustration for researchers who had to run a sample through multiple times, screening for one marker at a time. Fluorescent markers of multiple colors brought this process from a multi-step, multi-day ordeal to a straightforward protocol in which researchers could simultaneously screen for the complete set of markers distinguishing the target cells.
New fangled tubes and membranes are keeping centrifugation in the game of cell separation. And like many procedures, miniaturization and microfluidics have produced cell-separating chips, which are especially helpful in isolating cells present in miniscule numbers.
Take a look at the world of options ready to lend you a hand in studying the cellular realm. The convenient kits minimize the possibility of failure. And if you do make a mistake, feel glad that it won’t be advertised on the cover of a glossy magazine.