title: Raman-activated cell sorting based on dielectrophoretic single-cell trap and release.
abstract: Raman-activated cell sorting (RACS) is a promising single-cell technology that holds several significant advantages, as RACS is label-free, information-rich, and potentially in situ. To date, the ability of the technique to identify single cells in a high-speed flow has been limited by inherent weakness of the spontaneous Raman signal. Here we present an alternative pause-and-sort RACS microfluidic system that combines positive dielectrophoresis (pDEP) for single-cell trap and release with a solenoid-valve-suction-based switch for cell separation. This has allowed the integration of trapping, Raman identification, and automatic separation of individual cells in a high-speed flow. By exerting a periodical pDEP field, single cells were trapped, ordered, and positioned individually to the detection point for Raman measurement. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, a mixture of two cell strains containing carotenoid-producing yeast (9%) and non-carotenoid-producing Saccharomyces cerevisiae (91%) was sorted, which enriched the former to 73% on average and showed a fast Raman-activated cell sorting at the subsecond level.
authors.affiliation: Single Cell Center, CAS Key Laboratory of Biofuels and Shandong Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Qingdao, Shandong 266101, China.
authors.forename: Peiran
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lihui
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yufei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yuetong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Huabing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Wei E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D002469:Cell Separation / Q000295:instrumentation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000166:cytology*; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation; D012984:Software; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000295:instrumentation