Nanowell arrays for single cell isolation, screening and cloning

_{Overview of a scanned well and different zoom levels down to a single nanowell (10x). The CellCelector allows automated scanning and detection of nanowells and cells located inside the wells.}

CellCelector S200 ULA nanowell plates are ideal for the following workflows:

• High-throughput single cell cloning and screening (CHO, HEK, PER.C6 etc.)
• Single cell cloning after gene editing (e.g. stem cells like iPSC etc.)
• Isolation of sets of defined cell numbers (e.g. 1, 5, 20, 50, 100) for reference samples
• Spheroid formation, imaging and screening

   
The 24 well plate offers a cost-efficient solution for processing multiple samples in parallel. Each well allows clonal growth of more than 500 single cells into clones.

S200 nanowell plates are available also with a plasma treated nanowell surface suited for adherent cell culturing (product numbers CC0075 for 24 well plates and CC0073 for 6 well plates, see ordering information below).

Arrays of sub-nanoliter nanowells provide a next generation system for screening and isolation of single cells. We have developed a range of nanowell arrays with nanowell sizes currently ranging from 100 µm (0.9 nl) to 25 µm (12 pl volume). 100 µm nanowells feature a hexagonal shape providing high packing efficiency of nanowells and easy picking. They can be also used for single cell cloning up to approximately 16 cells per clone. Smaller 40 µm nanowells allow for co-location of different cell types in the same wells for functional studies or receptor/reporter cell assays. Finally 25 µm and smaller nanowells provide the isolation and analysis of rare single cells like circulating tumor cells (CTCs)/fetal cells or the screening of antibody/protein producing cells (e.g. B-Cells) through secretion assays. Effectively separating single cells in small wells with a defined spacing allows extremely high seeding densities of tens of thousands of cells without compromising on the ability to screen, analyze or to pick them individually.  All small nanowells have an optimized and patent pending UFO design providing 100 % single cell recovery efficiency.

CellCelector sub-nanoliter arrays are ideal for the following workflows:

• B-cell screening through secretion assays in the nanowells for Antibody Discovery
• Hybridoma single cell cloning and screening
• Functional assays studying cell-to-cell interaction (e.g. T-Cells etc.)
• Rare cell isolation (CTCs, fetal cells, etc.)
• Cluster isolation

The SIEVEWELL chip consists of a thin membrane with nanowells of 20 µm in size and 25 µm in height each. In total there are 370,000 wells on the chip on an area of 17 x 17 mm. The outer dimensions of the chip correspond to the standard microscope slide format. Within each nanowell there are 2 pores with a diameter of 2 µm. The hexagonal shape of the wells is ideal for automated cell detection and cell counting. The membrane is characterized by a very high transparency as well as very low autofluorescence and is therefore ideally suited for microscopic and optical measurements.

Due to its unique sieve structure SIEVEWELL arrays are a simple and perfect solution for

• On-chip staining of rare single cells, like circulating tumor cells, fetal cells etc. without any cell loss
• Single cell capture from cell suspensions: just pipetting. No pumps are needed.