Density gradient system. 3. Elimination of hydrodynamic, wall, and swirling artifacts in preformed isopycnic gradient centrifugation

The use of non-physiological conditions to isolate fetal cells from maternal blood

Fetal cells are always present in maternal blood starting in the first trimester of pregnancy, however a rapid, simple, and consistent procedure for their isolation for prenatal non-invasive genetic investigation is still lacking. Sensitivity and recovery of fetal cells is jeopardized by the minute amount of circulating fetal cells and their loss during the enrichment procedure. We report here a single-step approach to isolate fetal cells from maternal blood which relies on the use of non-physiological conditions to modify cell densities before their separation in a density gradient and in a newly developed cell separation device. Isolated fetal cells have been investigated using cytochemistry, Soret band absorption microscopy, monoclonal antibodies for epsilon- and gamma-chain-Hb, monoclonal antibody for i-antigen, and by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Fetal cells were always detected in all 105 maternal blood samples investigated and fetal aneuploidies were correctly diagnosed by FISH, in a pilot study of pathological pregnancies, in fetal cells isolated from maternal blood obtained either before or after invasive procedure.

Two-dimensional impedance studies of BSA buoyant density separated human erythrocytes

Combined DC (Coulter Volume) and radio frequency impedance studies were performed on human erythrocytes which had been separated by buoyant density in linear, neutral, isotonic bovine serum albumin gradients. The individual buoyant density fractions showed no reproducible shift in volume with buoyant density but did show a shift with opacity, radio frequency impedance divided by dc impedance. This new electronic parameter of opacity can be related to cell age, since both it and cell age are directly related to buoyant density. This increase in opacity with buoyant density is correlated with a change in shape.

The dissociation and separation of bovine adenohypophysial cells

Bovine adenhypophysial tissue was dissociated by sequential enzymatic incubation in a continuous flow system. Dispersed cells separated into discrete fractions after centrifugation in isopycnic bovine serum albumin gradients. The dispersed and separated cells were prepared for microscopic identification and differential counts by centrifugal cytology. Radioimmunoassays for LH, FSH, TSH, and Prl were used to corroborate the differential counts and determine the homogeneity of the fractions. The thyrotrophs banded at an average density (rho) of 1.0417, the FSH-secretory cells at rho = 1.0597, the LH-secretory cells at rho = 1.0458, and the Prl-secretory cells at rho = 1.0126. A 7-16 fold enrichment of different cell populations was possible. In bovine hypophyses each hormone appears to be formed by specific cells: the average TSH concentrations of the thyrotrophs were 5.1 pg/cell for LH- and FSH concentration were 4.7 and 4.9 pg/cell for LH- and FSH-secreting cells, respectively. The average Prl concentration was 4.9 pg/cell for Prl-secreting cells.

Differentiation of the epidermal keratinocyte in cell culture: formation of the cornified envelope

Human epidermal keratinocytes grow from single cells into stratified colonies. Cells in the upper layers of the colonies lose their ability to divide and begin terminal differentiation. In this process, there develops a cornified cell envelope that remains insoluble after heating in solutions of sodium dodecylsulfate and beta-mercaptoethanol. The insolubility of the cornified envelope depends upon proteins, since after treatment with proteolytic enzymes, the envelope becomes soluble in the detergent. Cells with cornified envelopes can be identified under the light microscope either in living colonies or following fixation and silver nitrate staining. Keratinocytes of the basal layer move in a characteristic way, but cornified cells do not move at all and form an immobile upper layer in the colonies. Keratinocytes disaggregated from growing colonies are of differing size and density, and can be separated on isopycnic gradients of Ficoll. The DNA-synthesizing cells are small (mean diameter 14 mum). The nonmultiplying cells are large and have a protein content proportionate to their size. Their final diameter may exceed 30 microns (volume increase greater than 10 fold). Cornified envelopes are found in some of the large cells but in none of the small. In growing colonies, usually 5-10% of the cells have cornified envelopes. The fraction is reduced in colonies growing in the presence of epidermal growth factor. Strain XB, an established keratinocyte line of mouse teratomal origin, also forms cornified envelopes, but the kinetics of the process are different, indicating that the program of terminal differentiation is not initiated at corresponding times in the two cell types.