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Overview Of Cell Separation And Isolation

Overview Of Cell Separation And Isolation

Cell separation was first achieved in 1964 by S. H. Seal, who separated large tumor cells from the smaller blood cells using filtration. Two years later, Pohl and Hawk performed experiments on how cells respond differently to a nonuniform electric field based on the cell type. Such observations were the inception of cell separation methods, which allow isolating a single cell type from a heterogeneous sample.

Centrifugation

Centrifugation

Centrifugation is a separation technique based on differences in density or size. It is commonly used to separate solids from aqueous interferents. During centrifugation, the sample is placed in centrifugation tubes and spun at high angular velocity, which allows centrifugal force to act differentially on the different densities or masses of the components. After spinning, the supernatant liquid is decanted. Depending on the specific application, either the pellet or the supernatant is retained...

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Subcellular Fractionation

The homogenate obtained after cell lysis contains various membrane-bound organelles that can be further separated into pure fractions by subcellular fractionation. These isolates are used to study specific cellular components, analyze localized protein activity, and are even employed in diagnostics. Fractionation is typically achieved using centrifugation methods, the most common being density-gradient and differential centrifugation.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 23, 2026

A Microfluidic Platform for Precision Small-volume Sample Processing and Its Use to Size Separate Biological Particles with an Acoustic Microdevice

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Published on: November 23, 2015

Cell separation based on size and deformability using microfluidic funnel ratchets.

Sarah M McFaul¹, Bill K Lin, Hongshen Ma

¹Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

|April 21, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

A new microfluidic ratchet mechanism uses oscillatory flow for irreversible cell separation. This method precisely sorts cells and particles by size and deformability, overcoming limitations of traditional filtration.

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Area of Science:

Biotechnology
Microfluidics
Cell Biology

Background:

Cell separation via microfluidic filtration is hindered by unpredictable hydrodynamic resistance due to cell accumulation.
Reversing flow to unclog filters disrupts separation and reduces selectivity in low-Reynolds number environments.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce and validate a microfluidic structural ratchet mechanism for irreversible cell separation.
To demonstrate size- and deformability-based sorting of cells and microparticles.

Main Methods:

Development of a microfluidic device employing a structural ratchet mechanism.
Application of oscillatory flow for cell and microparticle manipulation.
Utilizing model cells and microparticles for experimental validation.

Main Results:

The microfluidic ratchet mechanism successfully sorts and separates cells and particles based on size and deformability.
The spatial distribution of sorted cells is repeatable.
The separation process is demonstrated to be irreversible.

Conclusions:

The microfluidic structural ratchet mechanism offers a robust method for irreversible cell separation.
This technology can be broadly applied to separate cells with differing size and deformability characteristics.