Buoyancy-activated Sorting
Buoyancy-activated Sorting - Related Videos
03:18
Flotation-Based T Cell Isolation Using Buoyancy-Activated Cell Sorting
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2025
This video demonstrates T cell isolation from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) using the functionalized buoyancy-activated cell sorting (BACS) technology. The isolation technique involves the positive selection of CD3+ T cells by labeling the cells with biotinylated anti-CD3 antibodies and separating the antibody-bound cells using streptavidin-bound microbubbles.
11:30
Buoyancy and Drag on Immersed Bodies
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2023
Source: Alexander S Rattner and Sanjay Adhikari; Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA Objects, vehicles, and organisms immersed in fluid mediums experience forces from the surrounding fluid in the form of buoyancy- a vertical upward force due to fluid weight, drag- a resistive force opposite the direction of motion, and lift- a force perpendicular to the direction of motion. Prediction and characterization of these forces is...
13:35
Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting of Plant Protoplasts
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Cited by 91 •
2010
A method for isolating specific cell types from plant material is demonstrated. This technique employs transgenic marker lines expressing fluorescent proteins in particular cell types, cellular dissociation and Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting. Additionally, a growth setup is established here that facilitates treatment of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings prior to cell sorting.
01:12
Buoyancy
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2025
When an object is placed in a fluid, it either floats or sinks. All objects in a fluid experience a buoyant force. For example, a metal ball sinks, while a rubber ball floats. Similarly, a submarine can sink and float by adjusting its buoyancy. The concept of buoyancy raises several interesting questions. For instance, where does this buoyant force come from? How much buoyant force is required to make an object sink or float? Do objects that sink get any support at all from the fluid? To get...
02:10
Isolation of Neurons from Caenorhabditis elegans via Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting
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2025
This video demonstrates the isolation of fluorescently labeled neurons from Caenorhabditis elegans. A cell suspension is obtained from transgenic worms engineered to express fluorescent protein-fused vesicular transmembrane transporters in cholinergic neurons. The fluorescently labeled neurons are then isolated using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and maintained in culture.
FAQs
The method couples molecular recognition to a physical movement difference. Antibodies or other affinity ligands first recognize selected markers on target cells and attach buoyant particles to them. When the sample undergoes centrifugation or flotation, those labeled cells shift upward, whereas unlabeled cells sediment. This opposing movement creates separate fractions that can be collected for further analysis.
Affinity ligands provide the recognition step that identifies which cells should receive buoyant labels. Their attachment to target-cell markers gives the separation molecular selectivity rather than relying only on broad physical traits. As a result, the technique can enrich a chosen population from a complex biological sample, including populations that might not be distinguished effectively by size or density alone.
Buoyant particles, including microbubbles, alter the effective buoyancy of the cells to which they are attached. This changes how those cells respond to the separation field: labeled cells move upward while cells without the particles sediment. The particle therefore acts as a physical amplifier of the affinity-labeling event, converting selective cell recognition into a recoverable spatial separation.
Size- or density-based methods separate cells according to shared physical properties, which may not uniquely identify a biological population. Buoyancy-activated sorting adds an affinity step, so the movement difference reflects both marker recognition and particle attachment. This combination can enrich selected cells from complex samples when target and nontarget populations overlap in size or density.
A typical workflow begins by exposing the biological sample to antibodies or other affinity ligands linked to buoyant particles. The labels attach to the intended cell population, after which the sample is subjected to centrifugation or flotation. Labeled and unlabeled cells then occupy different fractions, allowing the enriched target fraction and the remaining material to be collected separately for downstream work.
The principal outcome is an enriched fraction containing a greater representation of the selected cell population than the starting sample. Because the approach separates cells through marker-directed buoyancy rather than only through size or density, it can support recovery of rare populations from complex materials. The overview also identifies viable, highly enriched cells as an important research outcome.
Researchers may apply the technique when they need to enrich selected cells for immunology, cancer biology, diagnostics, or cell therapy research. Its value is especially relevant to complex samples and rare-cell studies, where molecular recognition helps identify the population of interest. The resulting enriched material can provide a more suitable starting point for biological investigation or development-oriented workflows.
Rare-cell work requires recovering a small population from many unrelated cells, while cell therapy research may require a selected population with useful viability and enrichment. Buoyancy-activated sorting addresses both needs by combining affinity-based recognition with physical fractionation. Its reported scalability further supports studies that need more than a small analytical sample, although the specific workflow depends on the biological application.