Separation of blood cells with differing deformability using deterministic lateral displacement

Holmes D, Whyte G, Bailey J, Vergara-Irigaray N, Ekpenyong A, Guck J, Duke T (2014)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2014

Journal

Interface Focus The Royal Society

Book Volume: 4

Article Number: 20140011

Journal Issue: 6

DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2014.0011

Abstract

Determining cell mechanical properties is increasingly recognized as a marker-free way to characterize and separate biological cells. This emerging realization has led to the development of a plethora of appropriate measurement techniques. Here, we use a fairly novel approach, deterministic lateral displacement (DLD), to separate blood cells based on their mechanical phenotype with high throughput. Human red blood cells were treated chemically to alter their membrane deformability and the effect of this alteration on the hydrodynamic behaviour of the cells in a DLD device was investigated. Cells of defined stiffness (glutaraldehyde cross-linked erythro-cytes) were used to test the performance of the DLD device across a range of cell stiffness and applied shear rates. Optical stretching was used as an independent method for quantifying the variation in stiffness of the cells. Lateral displacement of cells flowing within the device, and their subsequent exit position from the device were shown to correlate with cell stiffness. Data showing how the isolation of leucocytes from whole blood varies with applied shear rate are also presented. The ability to sort leucocyte sub-populations (T-lymphocytes and neutrophils), based on a combination of cell size and deformability, demonstrates the potential for using DLD devices to perform continuous fractionation and/or enrichment of leucocyte sub-populations from whole blood.

Authors with CRIS profile

Graeme Whyte Juniorprofessur für Optofluidics Jochen Guck

Involved external institutions

University College London (UCL) GB United Kingdom (GB) University of Cambridge GB United Kingdom (GB)

How to cite

APA:

Holmes, D., Whyte, G., Bailey, J., Vergara-Irigaray, N., Ekpenyong, A., Guck, J., & Duke, T. (2014). Separation of blood cells with differing deformability using deterministic lateral displacement. Interface Focus, 4(6). https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2014.0011

MLA:

Holmes, David, et al. "Separation of blood cells with differing deformability using deterministic lateral displacement." Interface Focus 4.6 (2014).

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