Separation of viable from nonviable cells using a discontinuous density gradient.
When a suspension containing a mixture of viable and nonviable cells is layered over a dense ficoll-metrizoate solution and centrifuged, most of the viable cells are retained at the interface above the dense solution; whereas most of the nonviable cells are distributed in other fractions. The cells recovered from the interface are capable of subsequent growth in culture.
D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D002470:Cell Survival; D002499:Centrifugation, Density Gradient; D006224:Cricetinae; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D051381:Rats