I-Corps: Two-Bead Method for Enhanced Cell Isolation from Complex Samples

来自密歇根大学的研究小组开发了一种新技术，基于同时检测任意两种不同表面特征的抗体，可以纯化细胞，称为双粒子激活细胞分选。这一点很重要，因为生物细胞研究和医疗技术需要有效的细胞分离技术来推进细胞的基础研究以及医学研究和临床治疗。目前的方法包括荧光活化细胞分选（FACS）和磁活化细胞分选（MACS）。FACS需要昂贵的仪器，MACS缺乏特异性。能够从复杂的样品中将低水平的细胞富集到高纯度，被认为是生命科学许多领域的重要缺失部分。拟议的工作计划是通过将两表面标记物分离（目前只能使用昂贵的仪器）与易用性和磁分离成本（目前只能进行单参数分离）相结合来满足这一需求。这项技术可能有潜力改变市场格局，在FACS和MACS之间创造一个利基机会，只有利用两者的优势。

The team from the University of Michigan has developed a new technology that allows purification of cells, based on the simultaneous antibody detection of any two distinct surface features, called two-particle activated cell sorting. This is important because biological cell research and medical technologies require efficient cell separation techniques to advance basic research of cells and for medical research and clinical treatment. Current approaches include fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) and magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS). FACS requires expensive instrumentation and MACS lacks specificity.Being able to enrich low levels of cells to a high degree of purity from complex samples is recognized as being a significant missing component in many areas of life science. The proposed work plans on meeting this need through a combination of two-surface marker isolation (currently only possible with expensive instrumentation) with the ease of use and cost of magnetic separation (currently only possible to perform single-parameter separation). This technology may have a potential to shift the market landscape creating a niche opportunity between FACS and MACS, only taking the advantage of both.