An Imaging-Capable Full Spectrum Cell Sorter for Biotechnology and Biological Research @Newcastle University

Lead Research Organisation: Newcastle University
Department Name: Biosciences Institute

Abstract

Context: Cells are the building blocks of life, and it is essential we understand how they function individually and collectively within their wider context to decode the "rules of life" that dictate normal and abnormal cellular function at the systems level for wider societal benefits. These rules are relevant to the cellular engineering and biotechnology applications that underpin the development of cellular therapies, also helping to improve the security and environmental sustainability of our food sources.



Specifics: the human body is composed of ~37 trillion cells whose collective behaviour ultimately determines the health and longevity of our species. Moreover, unicellular communities such as pathogenic bacteria harbour hidden heterogeneity in the form of functional differences that lead to Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) akin to therapeutic escape mutations in cancer. There is a pressing need to develop and apply transformative technologies that can measure this heterogeneity at the single cell level in order to exert some control and further our understanding.



"Cytometry" comes from the Greek words "kytos" (cell) and "metria" (measurement) and describes a broad field of transformative technologies that make multiple high-throughput measurements of single cells at "population" scale. While always analytical in nature, there are cytometry technologies that can physically isolate (sort) cells from heterogeneous samples based on defined features allowing for further analyses of purified or enriched sub-populations. So called "cell sorters" were developed in the 1960s and have evolved incrementally over the years (more measurement parameters, multi-population simultaneous sorting capabilities and speed) but a major limitation is a lack of morphological or spatial information. Cell shape, size and signal localisation are key features of many important biological processes. This application is to secure funds to purchase the first image-capable cell sorting system that combines high-throughput full-spectrum based fluorescence profiling with simultaneous 6-population cell isolation.



Enables: This will open up novel and exciting avenues for decoding the rules of life at the single cell level but at population scale. Specifically, it will enable work into anti-microbial resistance (AMR); cell fate determination toward healthy ageing; and cellular engineering/biotechnology.

Publications

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