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June 2023 Share

Cell washing is a crucial technique used in both clinical and research settings for various biomedical applications. When trying to produce a pure, isolated population of cells via leukopak processing, cell washing is typically the first step. It removes unwanted cells and other contaminating material, such as proteins and platelets, leaving the apheresis product ready for high-precision cell separation. This enables the isolation of a pure population of cells, which …

June 2023 Share

The removal of dead cells from a cell sample is a critical component of cell separation and purification that can significantly improve the quality and purity of the final product. As techniques for cell separation continue to evolve, researchers are constantly seeking ways to improve efficiency.  If left unremoved, dead cells tend to release cellular debris, which may lead to erroneous results and contamination of the final product. That’s why …

May 2023 Share

What Is Counterflow Centrifugation Elutriation? Centrifuges are one of the most commonly utilized laboratory instruments, applicable for cell separation, purification, and harvesting. Counterflow centrifugation elutriation (CCE) is a liquid clarification technique that separates cells suspended in a solution by size and stage. This process operates based on the differing sedimentation rates of cells or particles of different sizes in a liquid medium under centrifugal force.  CCE is a valuable method …

March 2023 Share

What Is Apoptosis? Cell death is a natural and normal part of the human body’s maintenance mechanisms. Apoptosis means the steady process of programmed cell death that occurs to aid in the body’s growth and development.  Apoptosis regulates the life and death of cells, which affects several body processes like cell turnover, growth, immune functioning, hormone distribution, and hormone atrophy. Cell survival or death directly impacts the immune system’s population …

March 2023 Share

What Is a Cell Growth Factor? Cells grow in size as they move through the cell cycle toward eventual mitosis and cytokinesis, or cell division. To move from one stage of cell growth to the next, cells require the stimulation of surface receptors to pass entry checkpoints at each phase of the cell cycle. These signals come from cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) and their cyclin components.  Growth factors are an extracellular …

February 2023 Share

During a potential infection, the immune system relies on accurate and robust cellular activation and expansion. The massive release of activated effector cells can lead to major inflammation. Although this inflammation is necessary to quell the potential infection, the immune system provides safeguards against uncontrolled inflammation to protect the host from damage.  The immune system implements checkpoints and controls to manage the number of active T cells and inflammation during …

February 2023 Share

What Is T Cell Transduction? The recent development of adoptive cell therapies that specifically and effectively target cancer cells has transformed the field of oncology and the pharmaceutical industry. Early treatments focus on the autologous transfer of a patient’s own cells that have been modified to target their cancer, but newer allogeneic therapies, the transfer of modified cells from a healthy donor, have significant benefits. Modified cells are more readily …

November 2022 Share

Peripheral blood circulates within the human body carrying nutrients, chemical messengers, water, and a wide variety of cell types. An array of bone marrow-derived hematopoietic cells – white blood cells and red blood cells – distribute into all areas of the body to defend against invaders and carry oxygen, respectively The most common clinical use for whole blood involves trauma or serious injury in which the patient has lost significant …

August 2022 Share

Cell separation is an integral step in various research areas including, but not limited to, immunology, cell therapy, and single cell sequencing. The isolation of a specific cell population allows the behaviors of the individual cell type to be studied without interference from other cells. The cellular isolation strategy varies depending on the cell subset of interest.  Deciding on an isolation strategy is also dependent on the sample matrix. Cell …

August 2022 Share

B cells and T cells share a common goal: to protect the human body from harmful pathogens. While some cell subsets are more commonly known than others, each cell type is essential to maintaining health. For example, B cells are commonly known, but what some may not realize is their function is to make antibodies, regulatory proteins, and cytokines to aid lesser known effector T cells. To fully understand the …