Custom Cell Isolation: A Key to Precision Research in Advancing Cellular Biology and Disease Pathology
The Rise of Custom Cell Isolation in Precision Research: Advancing Our Understanding of Cellular Biology and Disease Pathology Cell culture research has been a cornerstone in advancing our understanding of cellular biology, disease pathology, and gene-level events. By enabling in-depth research with less investment of time and money, cells have become a valuable tool in drug discovery, development, and screening. As the demand for precision research grows, custom cell isolation is becoming increasingly important in representing in vivo processes accurately.
The Importance of In vitro Research: In vitro research has played a crucial role in scientific progress by providing a cost-effective and labor-intensive platform for research. Primary cells and cell lines are the typical in vitro models. Primary cells have a definite life span and tissue-specific genotype, while cell lines have an indefinite life span but do not retain all tissue-specific features. Cancer cells, due to their unlimited proliferation, are included in this category but retain in vivo cancer cell-specific heterogeneity and genotype. However, cell lines created through genetic engineering may provide homogeneity but lack tissue-based heterogeneity. Each cell type has its own applications in preclinical research.
The Need for Custom Cells: The increasing understanding of biological systems is revealing differences in cells of the same tissue and the same cell type in different tissues. For example, epithelial cells in kidney nephrons assume different genetic expressions, phenotypes, and functions in distinct regions. Similarly, endothelial cells have shown differences in their proteome and genome according to their tissue association. These differences also affect how the cells react to damage, repair, and medication, implying that each cell type is different and requires separate research to gain knowledge about the actual in vivo events.
Custom Cell Isolation: A Challenging Process: The integration of variations at different levels paves the way for precision research. However, custom cell isolation is a challenging process that requires high-throughput screening, careful characterization, standard procedures, and the use of suitable conditions and reagents. It is a time-consuming and financially intensive process that also poses challenges in locating the source for human samples. Even after successfully isolating the cells, their yield and purity are often low, and if the isolation or culture procedure is not optimal, it can lead to cellular distress, which can interfere with subsequent findings. Fortunately, many companies provide easy access to these cells and customize them according to research needs.
Applications of Custom Cells: Custom cells have several applications in research:
- Diagnosis: With the advent of next-generation sequencing, genetic or epigenetic variations are surfacing. These changes are especially evident in normal vs diseased cells and can form the basis of diagnostic tests in the future.
- Drug Screening: Previously, hepatocytes were the optimal in vitro culture model to evaluate drug toxicity. Recent findings have revealed significant toxicity to other tissues for drugs that were safe in hepatocytes. Therefore, different tissue-based models are now employed to assess drug toxicity on a holistic level.
- Drug Discovery: Research on custom cells can unearth the effector molecules essential for a pathological event, aid in the development of new therapeutics, and result in more effective drugs.
Advances in Custom Cell Isolation: Custom cell isolation and investigation are the basis of precision research. The isolation process requires the separation of different populations using selective media or antibody-based separation (FACS or MACS) that utilizes cell-specific surface markers. The absence of a distinguishing marker has turned scientists toward their genetic profiling, with single-cell sequencing making significant progress by defining the genetic makeup of cells rather than just their surface markers.
Conclusion: The demand for custom cells is growing in cell culture research as they integrate variations
