Single-Cell Isolation and Dispensing

Life science R&D needs to focus on single cells. This requires manipulation for isolation and transfer to a new location for further study or growth. Decades ago, I worked with optical traps also known as “laser tweezers.” These worked remarkably well but were ahead of their time. More recently, Quanterix Inc. (Lexington, MA) introduced SIMOA technology for single-cell analysis. This provides a 1000× improvement in detection sensitivity by placing single cells in nanowells. The platform facilitates rapid assays using ELISA technology—the small reaction volume lights up quickly since the reporter signal is very concentrated.

However, one would really like to select single cells and transfer each to another location for analytical or preparative purposes. Cellenion (Lyon, France) introduced the CellenONE, a system that provides a novel single-cell isolation and dispensing technology. Single cells are isolated from a suspension using a video microscope focused on a capillary segment. The camera monitors the capillary chamber between two marks. As the suspension is slowly pushed through, the number of cells in the detection chamber is counted. When only one is present, the flow is stopped and the chamber is moved with an XYZ stage to the dispense location.

CellenONE dispenses the liquid containing the cell precisely on target, such as a particular well of a 384-well plate. Aspirate volume is typically a few microliters, and dispense is about 300 pL.

A video and two application notes are available at http://www.cellenion.com/technology/cellenone/.

The CellenONE seems to be a major step for facilitating single cell biochemistry and biology.

Robert L. Stevenson, Ph.D., is Editor Emeritus, American Laboratory/Labcompare; e-mail: [email protected]

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