Immunomagnetic manipulation of hematopoietic cells: a review of current technology

During the last decade, immunomagnetic separation of cells has become popular due to the simplicity and speed of the technology. A variety of magnetic materials have been developed that have fundamentally different characteristics. Some of these act as true colloids and have the properties of solutions, while others are larger and are based on the polymerization of materials, such as styrene, in the presence of magnetite. In this article, the different magnetic matrices are discussed and reviewed with respect to their use for the separation of cells of the hematopoietic system. Additionally, a brief introduction into the field of immunomagnetic separation of nucleic acids is presented, as this technology may be used to perform investigations at the molecular level on hematopoietic cells.