Cell isolation

Cell isolation is the process of separating individual living cells from a solid block of tissue or cell suspension. While some types of cell naturally exist in a separated form (for example blood cells), other cell types that are found in solid tissue require specific techniques to separate them into individual cells. This may be performed by using enzymes to digest the proteins that binds these cells together within the extracellular matrix. After the matrix proteins have been digested, cells remain loosely bound together but can be gently separated mechanically. Following isolation, experiments can be performed on these single isolated cells including patch clamp electrophysiology, calcium fluorescence imaging, and immunocytochemistry.

Techniques

Circulating cells

The techniques required to obtain isolated cells vary depending on the cell type required. Circulating cells such as blood cells or some tumour cells can be isolated by taking a blood sample. As blood samples contain a mixture of many different cell types, a method of separating out cells into different types must be used. The most commonly used method for this is flow cytometry, during which an automated analyser inspects a narrow stream of cells. In one version of this technique, a light is shone on the stream of cells, and the analyser detects the reflected light or fluorescence before using this information to rapidly manoeuvre the cells of interest into a collection chamber.