Digital cell sorting technology enables greater precision and accuracy for samples with rare targets and low cell counts

Bologna, Italy and Huntingdon Valley, Pa., -- Menarini Silicon Biosystems, the pioneer of liquid biopsy and single cell technologies, will introduce its latest developments of the DEPArray™ digital cell-sorter workflows to research scientists in the flow cytometry field at the upcoming CYTO Congress, June 22-26, 2019, in Vancouver, Canada.

The DEPArray Image-Assisted Digital Cell Sorter provides solutions to challenges that flow cytometry cannot resolve and expands cell sorting functionality at research core facilities. The image-assisted sorting of the DEPArray platform enables high confidence identification of very rare cells followed by digital precision isolation for 100% purity, making it an ideal solution for even the most challenging cell-sorting application.

The DEPArray system  enables isolation of rare single cells from low cell count samples— as few as hundred cells per sample. Whereas, most traditional flow cytometry instruments require several thousand cells to prime the system.

Cells can be sorted live or fixed and can be used for subsequent molecular analysis, including DNA, RNA or protein.

 “For researchers working with very rare cells, DEPArray provides a higher level of precision and cell-sorting accuracy than traditional flow cytometry,” said presenter Arielle Ginsberg, M.Sc., Scientific Affairs Liaison for Menarini Silicon Biosystems. “It’s important that researchers recover and capture every single rare cell and only the true ones. This technology provides image-assisted immunofluorescent identification and digitally controlled recovery of exactly the cells they chose, down to single cell level, with unmatched precision and purity.”

Using DEPArray, cells are introduced into a microfluidic/microelectronic chip and trapped in dynamically controlled dielectrophoretic (DEP) cages formed by hundreds of thousands of microelectrodes. Once immobilized, cells are identified using a combination of immunofluorescent staining and LED optical imaging. Selected cells are then precisely driven using DEP cage motion to a collection tube. Up to 10 different cell populations or 96 single cells can be selected for recovery on the DEPArray, with integrated indexed sorting capabilities.

The use of stepwise digital motion in a wide microfluidic chamber, gives the system great flexibility in the size heterogeneity of samples that can be sorted. Examples of challenging applications where digital sorting demonstrated superior performance are in the isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from enriched blood, Reed Sternberg cells (RSc) from classic Hodgkins Lymphoma FFPE archived samples, and single contributor blood cells from mixed blood stains for forensic identification.

“We’re excited to have the opportunity to introduce the latest developments of our technology to the flow sorting market. DEPArray is a valuable tool that could lead to meaningful scientific advances in a number of fields, from oncology to immunology” said Fabio Piazzalunga, President and CEO of Menarini Silicon Biosystems, Inc.

CYTO attendees can learn more about DEPArray by visiting Menarini Silicon Biosystems at Booth #709 or attending the commercial tutorial on the DEPArray Image-Assisted Digital Cell Sorter, Sunday, June 23, 2019 from 12:30-1:30 p.m., Room 8 & 15.

About Menarini Silicon Biosystems

Menarini Silicon Biosystems, based in Bologna, Italy, and Huntingdon Valley (Pa.), USA, develops technologies and products that help researchers understand the biological complexity of disease through the study of single cells. The company manufactures and markets the DEPArray NxT, the only image-based digital cell-sorting and isolation platform that enables clinical researchers to conduct molecular analyses on live or fixed cells with single-cell precision.

In 2017 Menarini Silicon Biosystems purchased all the assets and relevant business related to the CELLSEARCH® Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) System. The integration of CELLSEARCH and DEPArray provides an end-to-end workflow solution* for the enumeration, isolation, and molecular characterization of CTCs from a simple blood test in the clinical research setting. This will help drive the clinical utility and correlation of CTCs with the effectiveness of specific therapies.

Menarini Silicon Biosystems is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Menarini Group, a multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostics company headquartered in Florence, Italy, with a heritage of over 130 years and over 17,000 employees in more than 100 countries.

*The workflow described is for research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures. The performance characteristics, safety, and effectiveness of the workflow have not been established and are not cleared or approved by the FDA.