Resources
Akadeum was established to fundamentally change the way that isolating cells and other biological targets is approached. Continue reading to find out more about our methods and products.
Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), sometimes called fluorescence-assisted cell sorting, is a specialized type of flow...
What is the difference between positive and negative cell separation?
Cell isolation methods and technologies use either a positive or negative cell separation approach. Positive vs. Negative...
How to Isolate Blood Cells from Plasma
Blood separation is a key part of many life sciences. Researchers in clinical labs and other biotechnical roles commonly analyze...
Cell isolation—also referred to as cell separation or cell sorting—is the process of isolating one cell population from other...
Microbubbles range in size from the nanometer length scale to micrometers. The choice in size has a lot to do with the...
What is cell separation and cell sorting?
We recognize that if you are reading this, you probably already understand or at least have a very good idea of what cell...
What are microbubbles made of?
When we are out talking about Akadeum’s cell separation microbubbles, we come across a lot of people that think the microbubbles...
Microbubbles and Centrifugation: How It Works
Can microbubbles be pelleted by centrifugation? In short, no. At least not a pellet that you would see at the bottom of your tube...
How many cells can a microbubble lift?
We hear this question all the time: How many cells can one of your microbubbles lift? For many users, the most important...
The Physics of How Microbubbles Sort Cells
Flotation is the driving principle behind our cell sorting technology. It’s hard to imagine many other physical phenomena that...
Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), sometimes called fluorescence-assisted cell sorting, is a specialized type of flow...
What is the difference between positive and negative cell separation?
Cell isolation methods and technologies use either a positive or negative cell separation approach. Positive vs. Negative...
How to Isolate Blood Cells from Plasma
Blood separation is a key part of many life sciences. Researchers in clinical labs and other biotechnical roles commonly analyze...
Cell isolation—also referred to as cell separation or cell sorting—is the process of isolating one cell population from other...
Microbubbles range in size from the nanometer length scale to micrometers. The choice in size has a lot to do with the...
What is cell separation and cell sorting?
We recognize that if you are reading this, you probably already understand or at least have a very good idea of what cell...
What are microbubbles made of?
When we are out talking about Akadeum’s cell separation microbubbles, we come across a lot of people that think the microbubbles...
Microbubbles and Centrifugation: How It Works
Can microbubbles be pelleted by centrifugation? In short, no. At least not a pellet that you would see at the bottom of your tube...
How many cells can a microbubble lift?
We hear this question all the time: How many cells can one of your microbubbles lift? For many users, the most important...
The Physics of How Microbubbles Sort Cells
Flotation is the driving principle behind our cell sorting technology. It’s hard to imagine many other physical phenomena that...
Akadeum Announces First Closing of Series A Financing Round
Akadeum closes funding to further commercialize its BACS™ Microbubble platform for next-generation sample preparation...
Akadeum and Agilent Team Up to Explore New Testing Workflow
Novel Akadeum microbubble technology can be the answer to improved quality and reduced costs across multiple fields of...
Akadeum Launches Seven New Products at Immunology 2019 Conference in San Diego
Ann Arbor-based biotech company, Akadeum Life Sciences, announced the release of seven new products based on its proprietary...
George Dunbar Joins Akadeum’s Board of Directors
Akadeum Life Sciences has recently added George Dunbar to our Board of Directors. George has spent his career as an executive...
First-of-Their-Kind Microbubble Products Commercially Available
We are excited to announce that we making our microbubble-based T cell and B cell isolation kits available for purchase to early...
Akadeum Advances Next Generation Cell Isolation Technology
We have successfully demonstrated use of microbubbles for isolation of human T-cells and mouse B-cells. As a result, we are...
Akadeum Recognized for Best New Technology at CYTO Innovation
Akadeum’s groundbreaking microbubble technology—which allows for fast, easy removal of target cells from biological...
Microbubbles Float Through Their First Flow Cytometry Conference
Akadeum recently attended the GLIIFCA 2016 meeting. John Younger, our CTO, gave a great talk to introduce Akadeum’s cell...
Akadeum’s Cell Sorting Microbubbles to Appear at GLIIFCA 2016
The Akadeum Team is excited to present and attend this year’s Great Lakes International Imaging & Flow Cytometry Association...
John Younger Featured in Science Magazine
John Younger, Akadeum's co-founder and chief science officer, was recently featured in a Science Magazine article on...
How big are microbubbles?
In particular, we currently use polydisperse microbubbles that are 16–18 um in diameter. Read this blog to learn more.
What are microbubbles made of?
Akadeum’s microbubbles are made of thin shells of glass with a gaseous core. Read this blog to learn more.
How many cells can a microbubble lift?
When isolating fully dispersed cells (such as in a Ficoll or leukopheresis PBMC prep), we have seen microbubbles carrying as many as 4 cells. Cells…
What is the Separation Buffer?
Ca2+, Mg2+ free Dulbecco’s PBS containing 2mM ETDA, 0.09% sodium azide, and 0.5% bovine serum albumin (BSA). BSA must be biotin free as to not…
Does Akadeum have a recommendation for biotin free BSA?
Millipore Sigma Bovine Serum Albumin – Product #A7030
Can Akadeum microbubbles be analyzed by flow cytometry?
Yes. Analyzing samples of microbubbles or microbubbles bound to cells can be performed but high concentrations of microbubbles have been found to clog the SIP…
My spleens are very large, is it possible to process samples containing >100 million cells in a single separation?
No. Samples in excess of 100 million cells should be divided and multiple separations performed. The cells can be recombined afterward. This is a result…
What if my samples are small (<10 million cells)?
When processing samples that are less than 10 million white cells/splenocytes, Akadeum recommends the following protocol changes: Replacing the provided 5 mL centrifuge tubes with…
Are Akadeum microbubble enriched samples compatible with flow cytometry?
Yes. Residual microbubbles in samples will not interfere with flow cytometry. Microbubbles are larger than many cell types and have very bright side scatter so…
Can I culture the isolated cells after isolation with Akadeum microbubbles?
Yes. After removal of the microbubble layer, the remaining cell pellet can be resuspended in any desired buffer and cultured or analyzed with other methods.
I am using an Akadeum mouse kit, do I have to lyse the red cells?
Lysing red cells is recommended to increase purity. The antibody cocktails contain a TER119 antibody to capture and remove red cells. However, depending on the…
Can I do back to back isolations to improve purity?
Yes, but any improvement in purity will be accompanied by additional loss of desired cells.
Why is mixing volume 50% of the total volume?
This ensures adequate opportunity for the microbubbles to find lower abundance cell types that are targeted. Using a higher percentage (ex. 70%) will perform similarly,…
I’m having trouble aspirating the microbubbles, what can I do?
Please watch the video demonstrating aspiration of microbubbles at www.Akadeum.com. Working with microbubbles can take a bit of practice.
What if there are a lot of microbubbles remaining (stuck to the sides of the tube) after aspiration? Is this a problem?
As these microbubbles should only contain cells that are targeted for removal, they should not cause any issues. However, if you wish to remove them,…
Can I decrease the biotin antibody incubation time?
No. Lower incubation times at 4°C will result in lower purity.
Can I perform the biotin antibody incubation at room temperature for a shorter time?
Akadeum has not determined if shorter room temperature incubations will change product performance so it is not recommended at this time.
After sitting in the refrigerator, all the microbubbles have separated out of solution. Is there something wrong?
This is normal. The solution will need to be mixed well before every use.
How do I know if the microbubbles are mixed enough before using them?
The microbubbles should be a homogenous white solution. Rocking the vial, a brief vortex, or mixing with a pipet can all help. After mixing, check…
How fast is too fast for mixing the microbubbles?
Trituration should be performed at approximately 0.5 to 1 stroke per second. See the video at www.Akadeum.com for a demonstration.
I’m worried about trituration impacting my cells, is there an alternative mixing method?
Akadeum has found slow mixing by trituration to be the most effective and quickest method for mixing microbubbles with cells.
I don’t have low retention pipet tips; can I use standard tips?
Low retention tips are not required but more microbubbles will adhere to standard tips. This may impact isolation performance.
I don’t have access to a swinging bucket rotor centrifuge, can I still use Akadeum microbubbles?
Microbubbles will still rise to the top in a fixed rotor centrifuge however the microbubble layer will not be even. This can make aspirating more…
I don’t have an aspirator/vacuum available in my lab, can I still use Akadeum microbubbles?
Aspiration is the best/easiest way to remove the microbubble layer after centrifugation. Pipetting off the bubble layer is not very effective and pipetting the cell…
How are Akadeum kits shipped?
Kits are shipped on ice packs with overnight delivery.
How should I store components?
Separation Buffer, microbubbles and antibody cocktail should be stored at 4 degrees Celsius.
“It was super quick - just 2 or 3 steps. Akadeum was quicker than any other kit I have used before.”
“Akadeum enrichment kit worked absurdly better than [magnetic bead separation].”
“It was super quick - just 2 or 3 steps. Akadeum was quicker than any other kit I have used before.”
“Akadeum enrichment kit worked absurdly better than [magnetic bead separation].”