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Use of an Optical Trap for Study of Host-Pathogen Interactions for Dynamic Live Cell Imaging

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Droplet-based optical trapping for cell separation in mock forensic samples.

Michael Valle¹, Benjamin O'Brien¹, Tracey Dawson Green¹

¹Department of Forensic Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.

Journal of Forensic Sciences

|September 15, 2023

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Optical tweezers offer a simplified, efficient method for separating sperm and leukocytes. This technique aids in forensic analysis by isolating cells for DNA profiling with minimal preparation.

Keywords:

DNA profiling forensic biology leukocytes mixture profile optical trapping optical tweezer spermatozoa

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Area of Science:

Biophysics
Cell Biology
Forensic Science

Background:

Optical tweezers manipulate microscopic objects, including cells, for biomedical research.
Previous methods captured spermatozoa but lacked efficiency for broader cell separation.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a simplified and more efficient optical tweezer protocol for cell transfer.
To isolate spermatozoa and leukocytes from mixed samples for DNA analysis.

Main Methods:

Utilized single-focus optical tweezers to manipulate and separate cells.
Applied the method to separate spermatozoa from vaginal epithelial cells.
Used the protocol to isolate leukocytes from enriched samples.

Main Results:

Achieved efficient separation of spermatozoa and leukocytes.
Obtained complete STR profiles from as few as 10 leukocytes.
Demonstrated successful separation of sperm from epithelial cells with minimal female DNA contribution.

Conclusions:

The modified optical tweezer protocol offers an efficient alternative to differential extraction for sperm-nonsperm mixtures.
This versatile method enables the isolation of various cell types for downstream applications like DNA profiling.