International Symposium on LifeChips 2006

Selecting One from the Many: A Positive Selection Strategy for Adherent Cells
Selection of single adherent cells from a heterogeneous population of cells is a very common procedure in biomedical research. Examples are single cell isolation occurring during the development of genetically transformed cell lines, isolation of stem cells, development of cell lines from patient samples, and decoding of random DNA or RNA libraries. We have developed a method to rapidly and efficiently select single adherent cells from a mixed population and then isolate that cell for clonal expansion or pooling with other selected cells. Cells are grown on arrays of releasable cell pallets (~20-500 micron diameter) fabricated from a common polyme. Single cells or colonies are isolated on the pallet by a virtual wall composed of air. Each cell pallet can be released and collected on-demand without perturbation of nearby cells and pallets. In combination with high speed imaging microscopy, this method can be used for high throughput sorting of adherent cells. One significant advance inherent in this approach over other methods is the ability to select cells based on dynamic phenomena such as changes in intracellular free calcium concentration, protein location, or cytoskeletal structure.

Biography
Dr. Nancy Allbritton obtained her B.S. in physics from Louisiana State University, Ph.D. in Medical Physics/Medical Engineering from M.I.T., and M.D. from Johns Hopkins University. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in cell biology at Stanford University. Dr. Allbritton has been at the University of California at Irvine since 1994 and is currently a Professor in the Departments of Physiology and Biophysics, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering. While at UCI she received several awards: a Beckman Young Investigator Award, a Searle Scholar Award, a UCI Midcareer Research Award, and a College of Medicine Excellence in Teaching Award. Her current research is directed at the development of new technologies to address biological problems with a primary emphasis on cell and protein-based methodologies.