Buoyancy Activated Cell Separation (BACS™) Microbubbles for Lysis and Ficoll Free Processing of Leukopaks

Abstract Leukopaks are highly-enriched apheresis product containing large numbers of mononuclear cells. In applications where large numbers of primary immune cells are required, leukopaks offer an ideal starting material. For this reason, leukopaks are a vital source material for immunophenotyping studies, cell therapy manufacturing, and pharmaceutical development. The enrichment of leukocytes from leukopaks have traditionally required an upfront density gradient separation to remove red blood cells (RBCs) which has made leukopak processing time consuming, inefficient, and inconsistent. To overcome these obstacles, Akadeum has developed a gentle and effective approach for density gradient and lysis-free processing of leukopaks that is based on our proprietary Buoyancy Activated Cell Sorting (BACS™) Microbubbles. Here we report on the isolation of untouched T cell and CD4+ T cell populations directly from leukopak material. Untouched T cells and CD4+ T cells were isolated in roughly 30 minutes using our quick and easy protocol. T cells were isolated with a final purity of 91.8% while CD4+ T cells were isolated with a final purity of 93.9%. In addition to high purity, we achieved greater than 90% recovery of both cell populations. These data clearly demonstrate the value of Akadeum’s easy, gentle, and effective sample preparation platform.