Immunomagnetic separation (IMS) is a laboratory tool that can efficiently isolate cells out of

body fluid Body fluids, bodily fluids, or biofluids, sometimes body liquids, are liquids within the human body. In lean healthy adult men, the total body water is about 60% (60–67%) of the total body weight; it is usually slightly lower in women (52-55%) ...

cultured cells Cell culture or tissue culture is the process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions, generally outside of their natural environment. The term "tissue culture" was coined by American pathologist Montrose Thomas Burrows. This te ...

. It can also be used as a method of quantifying the

pathogenicity In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a ger ...

of food, blood or feces.

DNA analysis Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

have supported the combined use of both this technique and

Polymerase Chain Reaction The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a method widely used to rapidly make millions to billions of copies (complete or partial) of a specific DNA sample, allowing scientists to take a very small sample of DNA and amplify it (or a part of it) ...

(PCR). Another laboratory separation tool is the affinity magnetic separation (AMS), which is more suitable for the isolation of

prokaryotic A prokaryote () is a single-celled organism that lacks a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. The word ''prokaryote'' comes from the Greek πρό (, 'before') and κάρυον (, 'nut' or 'kernel').Campbell, N. "Biology:Concepts & Connec ...

cells. IMS deals with the isolation of cells, proteins, and nucleic acids through the specific capture of biomolecules through the attachment of small-magnetized particles, beads, containing antibodies and

lectin Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that are highly specific for sugar groups that are part of other molecules, so cause agglutination of particular cells or precipitation of glycoconjugates and polysaccharides. Lectins have a role in rec ...

s. These beads are coated to bind to targeted biomolecules, gently separated and goes through multiple cycles of washing to obtain targeted molecules bound to these super

paramagnetic Paramagnetism is a form of magnetism whereby some materials are weakly attracted by an externally applied magnetic field, and form internal, induced magnetic fields in the direction of the applied magnetic field. In contrast with this behavior, ...

beads, which can differentiate based on strength of magnetic field and targeted molecules, are then eluted to collect

supernatant In an aqueous solution, precipitation is the process of transforming a dissolved substance into an insoluble solid from a super-saturated solution. The solid formed is called the precipitate. In case of an inorganic chemical reaction leading ...

and then are able to determine the concentration of specifically targeted biomolecules. IMS obtains certain concentrations of specific molecules within targeted bacteria. A mixture of

cell population Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...

will be put into a magnetic field where cells then are attached to super paramagnetic beads, specific example are

Dynabeads Dynabeads are superparamagnetic spherical polymer particles with a uniform size and a consistent, defined surface for the adsorption or coupling of various bioreactive molecules or cells. Description Dynabeads were developed after John Ugelstad m ...

(4.5-μm), will remain once excess substrate is removed binding to targeted antigen. Dynabeads consists of iron-containing cores, which is covered by a thin layer of a polymer shell allowing the absorption of biomolecules. The beads are coated with primary antibodies, specific-specific antibodies, lectins, enzymes, or streptavidin; the linkage between magnetized beads coated materials are cleavable DNA linker cell separation from the beads when the culturing of cells is more desirable. Many of these beads have the same principles of separation; however, the presence and different strength s of magnetic fields requires certain sizes of beads, based on the ramifications of the separation of the cell population. The larger sized beads (>2μm) are the most commonly used range that was produced by Dynal (Dynal KLtd., Wirral, Mersyside, UK; Dynal, Inc., Lake Success, NY). Where as smaller beads (<100 nm) are mostly used for MACS system that was produced by Miltenyi Biotech (Miltenyi Biotech Ltd., Bisley, Surrey, UK; Miltenyi Biotech Inc., Auburn, CA). Immunomagnetic separation is used in a variety of scientific fields including molecular biology, microbiology, and immunology. (3) This technique of separation does not only consist of separation of cells within the blood, but can also be used for techniques of separation from primary tumors and in

metastases Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, the ...

research, through separation into component parts, creating a singular-cell delay, then allowing the suitable antibody to label the cell. In metastasis research this separation technique may become necessary to separate when given a cell population and wanting to isolate tumors cells in tumors, peripheral blood, and

bone marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid tissue found within the spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It is composed of hematopoieti ...

Technique

Antibodies coating

beads will bind to antigens present on the surface of cells thus ''capturing'' the cells and facilitate the concentration of these bead-attached cells. The concentration process is created by a magnet placed on the side of the test tube bringing the beads to it. MACS systems (Magnetic Cell Separation system):Miltenyi S., Müller W., Weichel W., and Radbruch A. (1990) High gradient magnetic cell separation with MACS. Cytometry 11, 231–238 Through the usage of smaller super paramagnetic beads (<100 nm), which requires a stronger magnetic field to separate cells. Cells are labeled with primary antibodies and then MACS beads are coated with specific- specific antibodies. These labeled cell suspension is then put into a separation column in a strong magnetic field. The labeled cells are contained, magnetized, while in the magnetic field and the unlabeled cells are suspended, un-magnetized, to be collected. Once removed from magnetic field positive cells are eluted. These MACS beads are then incorporated by the cells allowing them to remain in the column because they do not intrude with the cell attachment to the culture surface to cell-cell interactions. A bead removal reagent is then applied to have an enzymatically release of the MACS beads allowing those cells to become relabeled with some other marker, which then is sorted.

References

{{Reflist, refs= Clarke, Catherine, and Susan Davies. "Immunomagnetic Cell Separation." Metastasis Research Protocols (n.d.): 017-23. Web. Laboratory techniques Molecular biology