BHUBANESWAR: Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) has developed a magnetic cell separation kit that can be useful for researchers and medical practitioners in separating different types of cells for further analysis and study.
Dubbed as QuikSort, the kit is competitively superior and cheaper compared to similar products available in the global market. The magnetic cell sorting kit comprises cell sorting procedure for different immune cells.ILS-Bhubaneswar Director Dr Ajay Parida said the kit has been developed in collaboration with Abgenex, a US-based company which will also market the product. “Currently, the QuikSort kit will help purify CD3 cells from human peripheral blood mononuclear cell and mouse splenocytes for different research applications. Separation kits for other cell types are in the pipeline,” he said.
While companies like Miltenyi, Dynabeads and Biolegends provide cell separation methods with their own technology, ILS has indigenously developed magnetic nanoparticles and device for cell separation using its patented technology.
Magnetic nanoparticles are used for several medical applications due to their non-toxicity, biocompatibility and injectability. Use of an external magnet allows high-level accumulation of the magnetic nanoparticles in targeted tissues.
Currently, magnetic nanoparticles are more in demand because of their potential application in different biomedical applications like cancer drug delivery/hyperthermia as an MRI contrast agent and cell sorting and separation.
ILS has patented technology of aqueous dispersible magnetic nanoparticles capable of encapsulating high payload of anti-cancer medicines which can be used for targeted drug delivery by conjugating different target moiety.
“As the nanoparticles are attracted to a high magnetic flux density, it is possible to purify cells using magnets. Magnetic cell sorting has been in use for cellular therapy. But the magnetic device has been designed for separation of specific cells,” Parida added.
ILS is set to launch the kit on Friday. Chairman-cum-managing director of Abgenex Dr Sujay Singh and Director of Regional Medical Research Center (RMRC) Sanghamitra Pati are slated to attend the event.