NeuroInDx, Inc. (NDX) was established in 2006 with the ultimate goal to develop new instrumentation and technologies for cell-specific biomedical research. Hence, the company’s primary focus is in the development of instrumentation for single-cell isolation and complex tissue microdissection for a range of downstream applications including genomics and single-cell analysis.
NeuroInDx responds to a high demand for a method permitting simple and rapid collection of individual cells from cell cultures and tissue sections. Applications are numerous ranging from simple enrichment for transfected cells to cell and region specific –omics studies. Based on its patented cell and tissue acquisition technology (CTAS), NeuroInDx developed a product line of versatile instruments (KuiqpicK™, UnipicK™ and UnipicK+™) which are compatible with a wide range of inverted microscopes.
Rapid collection of single or multiple cells can be performed from virtually any cell culture and various tissues for diverse downstream applications including gene expression profiling and NGS. UnipicK’s and UnipicK+’s versatility, cost effectiveness, streamlined operation, and minimal impact on cell viability, make it the cell collection system of choice.
UnipicK™ is a vacuum-assisted single cell collection and tissue microdissection instrument based on NDX’s original capillary-based cell and tissue acquisition system (CTAS; USPT 8,797,644; Kudo et al, 2012) that can acquire individual cells from cell cultures and tissues. It permits rapid acquisition of single cells from any untreated cell cultures, providing reliable and affordable means of most sophisticated experimentation. Moreover, the instrument is suitable for individual cell collection and region specific acquisition of subanatomical areas from complex heterogeneous tissues such as the brain. Operation of the system is intuitive and requires minimal training. Cell cultures require no treatment or specific peripherals, thus enabling unmatched flexibility in experimental design and sample collection.
Perhaps one of the most distinct features is the ability of UnipicK™ to collect live cells for further reculturing and a plethora of downstream functional studies. Both individual fluorescently labeled and morphologically distinct cells can be acquired from any cell cultures or tissue sections. The procedure has been demonstrated from nearly all types of adherent, suspended and 3D cultures, including difficult samples such as primary cells, or individual cells from fresh frozen and sucrose treated complex tissues, such as brain (please, see http://www.youtube.com/user/NDXInc). With live cells viability tests have demonstrated up to 99% after collection, and up to 30 cells per minute may be collected from adherent cultures.
UnipicK+ is a universal platform for tissue microdissection, single cell acquisition, and deposition into the single wells for further molecular analysis or clonal expansion. The main working principle is based on the capillary-based vacuum pulse assisted technology (CTAS; Kudo et al, 2012). Developed system can microdissect tissue sections, collect and deposit individual cells from any adherent cultures grown in standard cell culture dishes in as small as 15 nl volume, compatible with various downstream single cell analyses and next generation sequencing. Like UnipicK, the system may be used with a wide range of inverted microscopes. The benefits include cost-efficiency, simple operation, digital interface, complete workflow from single cell isolation to downstream analysis, compatibility with a wide range of inverted microscopes and use of standard plates and culture dishes. RNA isolated from collected cells and tissue regions exhibits high integrity and low degradation rates with RIN >9.0. Subsequent labeling protocols (e.g. T7 based) consistently produce high incorporation yields making it suitable for downstream PCR, microarray and sequencing analyses.
The instruments’ low cost, ease of use, single cell resolution, and minimal impact on cell viability, make it unique and vital research tools. Importantly, UnipicK™ is a free standing instrument that can be mounted over a wide range of inverted microscope models, providing additional flexibility in the laboratory.
APPLICATIONS:
COLLECTION OF SINGLE CELLS FROM ADHERENT CULTURES
Virtually any cell line and cell type can be collected to start selective subcultures. Up to 95% viability rates of collected cells find numerous applications in a stem cell research, single cell research and many other fields of in vitro cell based studies.
COLLECTION OF SINGLE CELLS FROM BRAIN TISSUES AND MICRODISSECTION
Neuroscience investigators will find both systems irreplaceable for collecting brain region specific tissue samples and even individual cells, which can be used for downstream genomics or proteomics studies.
The instruments can microdissect tissue sections with thickness from 10 to 500 μm. Native (live), fresh frozen, and sucrose treated tissues can be used. High quality of nucleic acids and proteins isolated from UnipicK/UnipicK+ collected samples ensures flawless integration with any –omics workflow including transcriptome sequencing (NGS) and proteomics studies.
OTHER TISSUE TYPES: Kidney, lung, liver etc.