Last Updated on
July 26, 2022
By
Excedr
“One cell at a time” is a new saying in research laboratories thanks to companies like Nanocellect. Why, exactly? Nanocellect, a biotechnology company dedicated to empowering scientists in the biomedical field, specializes in technologies like cell sorters that allow scientists to isolate and analyze cells of a single type from a complex mixture of cells.
NanoCellect is well known for its powerful microfluidic cell sorter, the WOLF. It enables scientists to make discoveries at a single-cell level and offers industry-standard cell-sorting technology required for drug discovery, single-cell omics, cloning, and basic research.
NanoCellect Biomedical, Inc. is located in San Diego and was co-founded in late 2009 by José Morachis, Sung Hwan Cho, Nate Heintzman, and Will Alaynick—all holding the highest degree of Ph.Ds and many years of experience in the area. Currently, Chris Neary serves as CEO and leads the company with his 30 years of experience in the field of life sciences and diagnostics.
The company earned its initial funding through NIH SBIR grants and contracts. It has also been well supported by outside investors including Illumina Ventures, FusionX Ventures, Anzu Partners, Agilent Technologies, and Vertical Ventures.
NanoCellect established its WOLF® PaC program to build partnerships and collaboration with other companies and empower scientific research. This program is already well underway after partnering with various organizations including 10X Genomics, Qiagen, Sartorius, and Akadeum-Life Sciences.
This article introduces the top flow cytometers developed by NanoCellect Biomedicals, Inc. and its applications in different research areas.
NanoCellect offers benchtop microfluidics cell sorting technology for every bio-based research lab. It includes the WOLF G2 cell sorter and WOLF cell sorter. It also provides WOLF accessories including the N1 single cell dispenser, microfluidic cartridges, and WOLF calibration beads.
The advanced NanoCellect WOLF cell sorter is an extended version of modern flow cytometry methods. Some of its key features and their advantages are mentioned below:
Recently, NanoCellect Biomedical introduced the new WOLF G2 cell sorter. It has two lasers and up to nine fluorescent channels that align with the needs of the broad set of life science and biotech applications. It expands the cell sorting horizons while maintaining simple workflows for either bulk sorting or single-cell dispensing. The news of the product release was also covered by the PRNewswire.
The N1 Single-Cell Dispenser, when integrated with the WOLF cell sorter, widens its application. The processes involving sorting and dispensing of single cells, including B-cell identification for antibody discovery, or monoclonal CHO cell line development, are simpler and easier with the N1 Single-Cell Dispenser.
The accessory facilitates the single-cell genomic assays directly into PCR plates. The instrument also gives you an option to either select one population of cells for single-cell deposition into 96 or 384-well plates, or choose two different populations of cells for bulk cell sorting.
Each well in the well-plate receives 1-100 cells after sample sorting, and data from each well is indexed to verify the plated cells. The N1 Single-Cell Dispenser, combined with the WOLF cell sorter, works to deliver cells in a compact and affordable format.
The two consumables enhancing the work-affinity of WOLF cell sorters are microfluidic cartridges and calibration beads.
If you are working with sensitive cells, then the microfluidic cartridges are what you need. They ensure a gentle cell sorting mechanism (single-cell sorting or bulk sorting) that improves the viability of cells and provides a higher outgrowth of healthy clones.
The sterile microfluidic cartridges use a piezoacoustic actuator and operate at a low pressure of <2 psi, sorting up to 300 cells per second. The piezoacoustic actuator directs the cells gently into the collection channels, preserving the viability of cells and RNA integrity.
One key feature of NanoCellect’s Microfluidic Cartridges is that they are individually wrapped in sterile packaging and designed to be disposable. This reduces the chances of cross-contamination of different samples and bio-hazardous aerosols.
Calibration beads are required to complete the initialization of the microfluidic sorting cartridge in the WOLF cell sorter. NanoCellect offers the calibration beads in a handy dropper bottle. To simplify the initialization, the beads are made available in a single drop.
NanoCellect’s advanced benchtop microfluidic cell sorting platform serves a wide range of applications in different biological research areas. It includes single-cell genomics, cell line development, gene editing, antibody discovery, and stem cell cloning.
Single-cell genomics have allowed the cell analysis of thousands of cells at once. The technique helps to study the genomics and transcriptomics of the same cell at the same time. It has a major impact in pathological studies to understand the mechanism underlying diseases and develop suitable therapies.
Cell preparation is a critical and significant step in cell analysis and sequencing. NanoCellect’s microfluidic cell sorter, the WOLF, maintains the cell integrity for numerous sequencing and multi-omics techniques.
The WOLF is the best fit for any workflow, including 10x Genomics RNA-seq library preparation, single-cell sorting on a PCR plate, and whole-genome sequencing methods.
Image: An illustration of the workflow of single-cell genomics using the WOLF microfluidic sorter.
Source: NanoCellect Biomedical
The antibody-drug discovery process involves the development of hybridomas and antibody engineering to recognize specific target proteins. It’s much different than the discovery of small molecular drugs. Multiple steps including immunization, isolation of B-cells, and viable cell plating involved in the workflow make it even more challenging.
The WOLF cell sorter gently and efficiently sorts the sensitive cells into multi-well plates for optimal clonal outgrowth. The device screens and produces data for a 96-well plate in nine minutes and 33 minutes for a 384-well plate.
Image: An illustration of the workflow of antibody discovery using the WOLF microfluidic sorter
Source: NanoCellect Biomedical
The generation of pure and stable cell lines is crucial for the study of gene expressions and recombinant protein production. However, it can be challenging while working with conventional flow cytometers and high-pressure cell sorters. Their inaccurate, limited dilution methods or shear stress affect the efficient generation of cell lines.
The WOLF microfluidic cell sorter allows gentle sorting of cells at a low pressure of <2 psi. It improves the sorting efficiency and increases cell viability. The disposable cartridges of the FLOW avoid cross-contamination between samples and do not require any clean-ups.
Image: An illustration of the workflow of cell line development using the WOLF microfluidic sorter.
Source: NanoCellect Biomedical
The discovery of CRISPR/Cas9 has revolutionized biological research. Now, genome editing is faster, cheaper, more accurate, and more efficient than any other existing gene-editing method. However, the rough conditions cells are exposed to using traditional high-pressure cell sorters, as well as shear stress and inefficient dilution methods, may compromise all your efforts.
The WOLF microfluidic cell sorter, combined with an N1 single cell dispenser, provides a safer and gentler way of isolating cells. The instrument applies a low pressure of <2 psi to gently sort and deposit the cells, without any compression shock, in the wells of 96 or 384-well plates.
The WOLF can be used well in several other gene-editing applications including CRISPR and disease modeling, karyotype protection, and genome-edited iPSCs generation.
Image: An illustration of the workflow of CRISPR gene editing using the WOLF microfluidic sorter.
Source: NanoCellect Biomedical
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NanoCellect’s WOLF technology is efficient at sorting and dispensing cells into cell plates. Additionally, it protects cells from undergoing shear stress and compression shock. These key features make WOLF technology ideal for any lab performing cell-based assays. However, it costs a lot of money to procure a NanoCellect instrument and its accessories.
If you are in a lab, working on a tight budget, and want to use high-tech instruments for your breakthrough discoveries, then consider leasing through Excedr.
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