Recovery of Magnetic Catalysts: Advanced Design for Process Intensification

The design of microdevices in which components with magnetic character must be separated and recovered from reactive media benefits from the advantages of microfluidics and meets the criteria for process intensification; however, there are open questions, such as the design of the most appropriate magnet arrangement, that need further research in order to increase the magnetic gradient exerted on the particles. Herein, we focus on the continuous recovery of magnetic microparticles, that can be used as support to facilitate the recovery of biocatalysts (magnetic microcatalysts, MMCs) from biological fluids. We analyze and compare the performance of two typical magnetophoretic microdevices for addressing bead recovery: (i) annular channels with a quadrupole orientation of the permanent magnets (quadrupole magnetic sorter, QMS) and (ii) the standard design, which consists of rectangular channels with a single permanent magnet to generate the magnetic field. To this end, an experimentally validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical model has been employed. Our results reveal that for devices with the same width and length, the micro-QMS, in comparison to a rectangular channel, could accomplish the complete particle retrieval while (i) processing more than 4 times higher fluid velocities, treating more than 360 times higher flow rates or (ii) working with smaller particles, thus reducing by 55% the particle mass. Additionally, the parallel performance of ≈300 micro-QMSs fulfills the processing of flow rates as high as 200 L·h^–1 while entirely capturing the magnetic beads. Thereby, this work shows the potential of the QMS advanced design in the intensification of the recovery of catalysts supports of magnetic character.

Emerging technologies for CTC detection based on depletion of normal cells

Properly conducted, an enrichment step can improve selectivity, sensitivity, yield, and most importantly, significantly reduce the time needed to isolate rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs). The enrichment process can be broadly categorized as positive selection versus negative depletion, or in some cases, a combination of both. We have developed a negative depletion CTC enrichment strategy that relies on the removal of normal cells using immunomagnetic separation in the blood of cancer patients. This method is based on the combination of magnetic and fluid forces in an axial, laminar flow in long cylinders placed in quadrupole magnets. Using this technology, we have successfully isolated CTCs from patients with breast carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. In contrast to a positive selection methodology, this approach provides an unbiased characterization of these cells, including markers associated with epithelial mesenchymal transition.

Characterization of nonspecific crossover in split-flow thin channel fractionation

Split-flow thin channel (SPLITT) fractionation is a technique for continuous separation of particles or macromolecules in a fluid stream into fractions according to the lateral migration induced by application of a field perpendicular to the direction of flow. Typical applications have involved isolation of different fractions from a polydisperse sample. Some specialized applications involve the separation of the fraction influenced by the transverse field from the fraction that is not. For example, immunomagnetically labeled biological cells may be separated from nonlabeled cells with the application of a transverse magnetic field gradient. In such cases, it may be critically important to minimize contamination of the labeled cells with nonlabeled cells while at the same time maximizing the throughput. Such contamination is known as nonspecific crossover (NSC) and refers to the real or apparent migration of nonmobile particles or cells across stream lines with the mobile material. The possible mechanisms for NSC are discussed, and experimental results interpreted in terms of shear-induced diffusion (SID) caused by viscous interactions between particles in a sheared flow. It is concluded that SID may contribute to NSC, but that further experiments and mathematical modeling are necessary to more fully explore the phenomenon.

Particle sorting in a mini step-split-flow thin channel: influence of hydrodynamic shear on transversal migration

A mini splitterless-split-flow thin fractionation (SPLITT) device has been developed to achieve fast separations of micrometer-sized species. In this device, inlet and outlet steps have replaced the splitters, which are common to conventional SPLITT channels. By elimination of the splitters, it becomes straightforward to reduce channel dimensions while maintaining the classic method of fabrication. Reduced dimension channels allow high axial velocity at relatively low flow rate. These high axial velocities generate an enhancement of inertial lift forces and hydrodynamic shear-induced diffusion. Experiments carried out with particulate and biological species in a mini step-SPLITT channel demonstrate that these hydrodynamic effects yield highly enriched fractions of smaller species from binary mixtures.

Blood progenitor cell separation from clinical leukapheresis product by magnetic nanoparticle binding and magnetophoresis

Positive selection of CD34+ blood progenitor cells from circulation has been reported to improve patient recovery in applications of autologous transplantation. Current magnetic separation methods rely on cell capture and release on solid supports rather than sorting from flowing suspensions, which limits the range of therapeutic applications and the process scale up. We tested CD34+ cell immunomagnetic labeling and isolation from fresh leukocyte fraction of peripheral blood (leukapheresis) using the continuous quadrupole magnetic flow sorter (QMS), consisting of a flow channel (SHOT, Greenville, IN) and a quadrupole magnet with a maximum field intensity (B(o)) of 1.42 T and a mean force field strength (S(m)) of 1.45 x 10(8) TA/m(2). Both the sample magnetophoretic mobility (m) and the inlet and outlet flow patterns highly affect the QMS performance. Seven commercial progenitor cell labeling reagent combinations were quantitatively evaluated by measuring magnetophoretic mobility of a high CD34 expression cell line, KG-1a, using the cell tracking velocimeter (CTV). The CD34 Progenitor Cell Isolation Kit (Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany) showed the strongest labeling of KG-1a cells and was selected for progenitor cell enrichment from 11 fresh and 11 cryopreserved clinical leukapheresis samples derived from different donors. The CD34+ cells were isolated with a purity of 60-96%, a recovery of 18-60%, an enrichment rate of 12-169, and a throughput of (1.7-9.3) x 10(4) cells/s. The results also showed a highly regular dependence of the QMS performance on the flow conditions that agreed with the theoretical predictions based on the CD34+ cell magnetophoretic mobility.

Application of immunomagnetic cell enrichment in combination with RT-PCR for the detection of rare circulating head and neck tumor cells in human peripheral blood

Detection of rare, circulating tumor cells (CTC's) in human peripheral blood is a potential indicator of prognosis and diagnosis in oncology. Typical methods to detect these CTC's are either by immunocytochemistry (ICCS) or RT-PCR. However without accurate, rapid, and reproducible enrichment processes, these detection techniques are labor intensive and/or unreliable. In this article, a repeatable enrichment process that included a flow-through immunomagnetic cell separation system, the quadrupole magnetic sorter (QMS) was optimized with the aid of a statistical analysis software package. The QMS was operated in a negative mode of operation by immunomagnetically targeting normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) through the CD45 surface marker. Three head and neck squamous carcinoma cell lines (HNSCC), Detroit-562, SCC-4, and CAL-27, were used to determine the sensitivity of RT-PCR for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in spiked PBL. The detection purity needed for detection was found to be one cell in 10(4), one cell in 10(3), and one cell in 10(5) for the Detroit-562, SCC-4, and CAL-27, respectively. The actual number of cancer cells needed for RT-PCR detection ranged from 30 to 1 cell. To mimic the potential concentration of rare CTC present in peripheral blood of cancer patients, the spiking concentration was chosen to be one cancer cell per 10(5) total leukocytes from healthy donors. Using a single step immunomagnetic labeling, the final, optimized enrichment process produced a 57.6 +/- 30.3-fold (n = 6) enrichment of the rare cancer cells with a final cancer cell recovery of (77.8 +/- 6.6)%.

Comparison of two immunomagnetic separation technologies to deplete T cells from human blood samples

The objective of this study was to compare the performance of two immunomagnetic separation technologies to deplete T cells from buffy coats of human blood. Specifically, two versions of the commercial MACS(R) Technology: MiniMACS and SuperMACS, and a prototype, flow-through system, the QMS, were evaluated. Peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes (PBL) were isolated from buffy coats and an immunomagnetic separation of CD3(+) cells was conducted using company and optimized labeling protocols. To mimic peripheral blood containing bone marrow purged hematopoietic stem cells, HSC, CD34 expressing-cells (KG1a) were spiked into PBL prior to T-cell depletion once optimized depletion conditions were determined. Once the labeling protocol was optimized, the MiniMACS system performed well by producing a highly enriched CD3(+) fraction, and a respectable level of depletion of T cells and recovery of KG1a cells in the depleted fraction; an average log(10) depletion of T cells of 2.88 +/- 0.17 and an average recovery of the KG1a cells of 60.8 +/- 5.94% (n = 14). The performance of the SuperMACS system was very similar with an average log(10) depletion of T cells of 2.89 +/- 0.22 and an average recovery of KG1a of 63.1 +/- 8.55% (n = 10). In contrast, the QMS system produced an average log(10) depletion of T cells of 3.98 +/- 0.33 (n = 16) with a corresponding average recovery of 57.9 +/- 16.6% of the spiked CD34+ cells. The aforementioned QMS performance values were obtained using sorting speeds ranging from 2.5 x 10(4) to 1.7 x 10(5) cells per second. It is suggested that the lack of a 100% recovery of the unlabeled KG1a cells is the result of a previously reported "drafting" phenomena which pulls unlabeled cells in the direction of the magnetically labeled cells thereby resulting in loss of the unlabeled cells.

Cell tracking velocimetry as a tool for defining saturation binding of magnetically conjugated antibodies

BACKGROUND

Continuous flow immunomagnetic separation is an attractive alternative to current batch mode immunomagnetic separation methods because it is capable of high sorting speeds at mild cell conditions, and grants the operator better control of separation process. The control of the separation is dependent on knowledge of the amount of magnetic label attached to the cell (magnetic labeling intensity), however. Determination of the magnetic labeling is accomplished by measuring cell magnetophoretic mobility using a newly developed technique of Cell Tracking Velocimetry (CTV).

METHODS

Flow cytometry was used to define the antibody binding characteristics of a fluorescently tagged primary antibody. Subsequently, CTV was used to measure antibody-binding characteristics of a magnetically tagged secondary antibody.

RESULTS

The results of this study show that CTV is capable of providing valuable information concerning the cell labeling by magnetically tagged antibodies. It was demonstrated that the magnetically conjugated antibody binding curve exhibits the same exponential increase to saturation characteristics as that seen with the fluorescently tagged antibody. Further, it was shown that the intensity of the secondary magnetic labeling is directly proportional to the intensity of the primary fluorescent label.

CONCLUSIONS

CTV is an accurate tool for evaluation of magnetically conjugated antibodies. The ability to determine the intensity of magnetic labeling is necessary for the development of continuous flow immunomagnetic separations based on cell magnetophoresis.

Cell Sorting by One Gravity SPLITT Fractionation

The need for innovative separative techniques suitable for the fractionation of biomaterials prompted this investigation into the performance of the gravitational split-flow thin channel (G-SPLITT) system as a cell sorter. The rigorous mathematical description of the separation mechanism allows achievement of fast separation of several million myeloma cells from healthy splenocytes using flow conditions calculated from theory. Separation in G-SPLITT is based on differences in sedimentation rate. For accurate prediction of the optimal working conditions, this parameter was directly measured by cell tracking velocimetry rather than relying on a measure of diameter (by Multisizer) and an assumed density for each cell population. We also discuss the influence of different flow conditions on the effectiveness of separation.

Enrichment of rare cancer cells through depletion of normal cells using density and flow-through, immunomagnetic cell separation

OBJECTIVE

To develop a reliable technique to enrich for rare cells in blood suspensions using only negative selection steps including a flow-through immunomagnetic cell separations system and by optimizing variables normally encountered during such enrichment processes.

METHODS

A human breast cancer cell line was cultivated and spiked at a ratio of 1 cancer cell to 10(5) total leukocytes in buffy coat or 1 cancer cell to 10(8) total cells in whole blood samples. The final, optimized process consisted of: a red cell lysis step, immunomagnetically staining leukocytes with an anti-CD45 PE, anti- MACS sandwich, immunomagnetic sorting using a flow-through system (QMS), and a final cell analysis step using either an automated cell counter, filtration, and visual counting or a cytospin analysis.

RESULTS

The final, optimized process produced a final enrichment of the rare cancer cells of 5.17 log(10) and an average, final recovery of 46%. It should be noted that a negative depletion protocol was used (i.e., no labeling of the rare cancer cells was used).

CONCLUSIONS

To the authors' knowledge, no examples in the literature exist of a 5.17 log(10) enrichment of cancer cells in human blood using a negative depletion protocol. The closest example is a 4 log(10) enrichment in which two positive magnetic cell separation steps were used (none were used in this study). Ongoing studies are investigating further modifications of the precommercial, prototype flow-through immunmagnetic separation system to increase both the enrichment and recovery rate. However, even at current performance levels, the presented process could significantly improve visual and molecular analysis of rare cells in blood.

Effect of flow development region and fringing magnetic force field on annular split-flow thin fractionation

Split-flow thin (SPLITT) fractionation devices have been widely used to separate macromolecules, colloids, cells and particles. Recently, the quadrupole magnetic flow sorter (QMS) has been reported in the literature as another family of SPLITT fractionation device. However, the separation performance observed in the experimental measurements is generally found to deviate from the ideal behaviour. Possible causes such as hydrodynamic lift force, high particle concentration and imperfect geometries have been extensively examined. However, the effects of flow development regions and fringing magnetic force field at the separation channel inlet and outlet, which are ignored by the theory, have not been investigated. The error introduced by ignoring these effects need to be rigorously studied so that the theory can be used to optimise operation flow rates with confidence. Indeed, we find in this paper that these ignored effects are responsible to the discrepancy between the experimental data and the theoretical predictions. A new theory has been proposed for optimisation of device operation.

Control of Magnetophoretic Mobility by Susceptibility-Modified Solutions As Evaluated by Cell Tracking Velocimetry and Continuous Magnetic Sorting

With the analytical expression for the magnetophoretic mobility of an ideal, linearly polarizable sphere undergoing creeping motion in viscous medium, we have shown that both attractive and repulsive motions are possible in the magnetic field. We have validated theoretical predictions using magnetic monodisperse microspheres of 5.2-microm diameter and nonmagnetic polystyrene microspheres of 6.99-microm diameter suspended in solutions of paramagnetic ions. The microsphere magnetophoretic mobility was measured using a modified particle tracking velocimetry system, developed in-house and called a cell tracking velocimeter. The product of measured mobility and viscosity agrees well with the theoretical prediction, differing only by approximately 11%. Further, a 26% increase in resolution between magnetic and nonmagnetic particle distributions was evaluated when paramagnetic ion carrier was used instead of water. Continuous particle sorting based on differences in magnetophoretic mobility was performed with another device developed by us, the quadrupole magnetic flow sorter (QMS). In the QMS, the introduction of paramagnetic ions into the carrier was effective in suppressing nonspecific crossover (i.e., the transport of low-mobility particles into the magnetic particle fraction) in particles and in biologically relevant red blood cells and thus showed promise as a means of increasing the purity of the magnetic separation.

Magnetic Cell Separation: Characterization of Magnetophoretic Mobility

Magnetic cell separation has become a popular technique to enrich or deplete cells of interest from a heterogeneous cell population. One important aspect of magnetic cell separation is the degree to which a cell binds paramagnetic material. It is this paramagnetic material that imparts a positive magnetophoretic mobility to the target cell, thus allowing effective cell separation. A mathematical relationship has been developed to correlate magnetic labeling to the magnetophoretic mobility of an immunomagnetically labeled cell. Four parameters have been identified that significantly affect magnetophoretic mobility of an immunomagnetically labeled cell: the antibody binding capacity (ABC) of a cell population, the secondary antibody amplification (psi), the particle-magnetic field interaction parameter (DeltachiV(m)), and the cell diameter (D(c)). The ranges of these parameters are calculated and presented along with how the parameters affect the minimum and maximum range of magnetophoretic mobility. A detailed understanding of these parameters allows predictions of cellular magnetophoretic mobilities and provides control of cell mobility through selection of antibodies and magnetic particle conjugates.

Splitter Imperfections in Annular Split-Flow Thin Separation Channels: Experimental Study of Nonspecific Crossover

The separation performance of a split-flow thin (SPLITT) separation device depends on uniformity of channel thickness and the precise placement of the flow splitters at fixed distances between the channel walls. The observation of nonspecific crossover, that is, the transport of sample materials across the channel thickness without the influence of an applied field, has routinely been taken to indicate the presence of irregularities in splitter shape or placement. Computational fluid dynamics software may be used to predict the influence of splitter imperfections on nonspecific crossover, where it is assumed that sample transport is by convection alone. A previous study has shown how small inlet splitter imperfections can account for the relatively low levels of nonspecific crossover observed with typical annular SPLITT devices. This study, however, could not distinguish between the possible sources of nonspecific crossover; hydrodynamic lift or shear-induced diffusion could have contributed. To confirm the validity of the computational approach, a series of experiments has been carried out on a channel having a deliberately and severely bent splitter. Nonspecific crossover was measured for a range of inlet and outlet flow rate ratios, with the bent splitter placed at both the channel inlet and outlet. The severity of the splitter distortion was sufficient to produce significant nonspecific crossover over a wide range of flow conditions. Good agreement was found between experiment and prediction based on computational fluid dynamics, with experiment generally showing only slightly higher crossover than prediction. The quantitative agreement for this extreme case suggests that the contribution to nonspecific crossover due to geometrical imperfections can be well described using computational fluid dynamics.

Characterization of antibody binding to three cancer-related antigens using flow cytometry and cell tracking velocimetry

Proper antibody labeling is a fundamental step in the positive selection/isolation of rare cancer cells using immunomagnetic cell separation technology. Using either a two-step or single-step labeling protocol, we examined a combination of six different antibodies specific for three different antigens (epithelial specific antigen, epithelial membrane antigen, and HER-2/Neu) on two different breast cancer cell lines (HCC1954 and MCF-7). When a two-step labeling protocol was used (i.e., anti-surface marker-fluoroscein-isothiocyanate [FITC] [primary Ab], anti-FITC magnetic colloid [secondary Ab]) saturation of the primary antibody was determined using fluorescence intensity measurements from flow cytometry (FCM). The saturation of the secondary antibody (or saturation of a single-step labeling) was determined using magnetophoretic mobility measurements from cell tracking velocimetry (CTV). When the maximum magnetophoretic mobility was the primary objective, our results demonstrate that the quantities necessary for antibody saturation with respect to fluorescence intensity were generally higher than those recommended by the manufacturer. The results demonstrate that magnetophoretic mobility varies depending on the types of cell lines, primary antibodies, and concentration of secondary magnetic colloid-conjugated antibody. It is concluded that saturation studies are a vital preparatory step in any separation method involving antibody labeling, especially those that require the specificity of rare cell detection.