Cell Sorting Services
Do you need to purify some cells or run assays on purified cells, yet lack the capability? RayBiotech offers a full suite of cell sorting services, either for running a service like multiplex or flow cytometry on a purified population or sending the cells back to you upon purification. We offer positive and negative magnetic-activated cell sorting for common or rare populations. If you have a project requiring purified populations from your samples, or just have questions about our capabilities, please reach out to discuss.
Depending on your needs, RayBiotech offers several purification options as well as many secondary service options post-purification.
- MACS based Sorting: Uses antibodies bound to paramagnetic beads to target and purify or remove the labeled population(s) of cells.
- Positive Selection Sorting: Specifically targets selected cells with an antibody and magnetically purifies them from the population.
- Negative Selection Sorting: Specifically does NOT target desired cells by using antibodies targeting other contaminating cells in the sample and magnetically removes them.
- Purification and Cellular Expansion: Secondary service where the initially purified cells are expanded in vitro for later use.
Frequently Asked Questions
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We can process any number of sample types, starting from tissue samples, blood samples, or mixed cell lines. The fresher the samples the better in terms of cell quality, but we also have some protocols for sending in frozen samples in a proper storage buffer to allow successful revival and purification.
The best purification method often depends on what the sample type is, how much material is available, as well as the goal of the purification and downstream analyses. Sometimes you want “untouched” cells, as is common with immunological sorting of T and B cell populations. Other times, you just need to remove the excess contaminating red blood cells, macrophages, or monocytes. The purer the population and the more sample needed, the higher the purification method that is required.
Purity from any cell sort is variable depending on the quality of the sample, amount of dead material, and the method. Generally, positive selection sorting yields higher purity, as you are actively labeling the cells to purify. Here you can expect ~85-95% purity. On the other hand, negative cell sorting is great to pre-enrich your population, or purify a population without “touching” them with an antibody. These populations are usually less pure and highly dependent upon the kit used, with purity varying from ~60-90%.
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