Patent Grant
7157049
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to biological assays and diagnostic assays and, in particular, to such assays conducted on optical bio-discs. More specifically, but without restriction to the particular embodiments hereinafter described in accordance with the best mode of practice, this invention is further directed at sample preparation methods for use in cellular assays and related optical bio-disc systems.
The present invention may be advantageously employed in combination with any of the discs, assays, and systems disclosed in the following commonly assigned and co-pending patent applications: U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/302,757 entitled “Clinical Diagnostic Optical Bio-Disc And Related Methods For Selection And Detection Of Lymphocytes Including Helper-Inducer/Suppressor-Cytotoxic Cells” filed Jul. 3, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/306,035 entitled “Quantitative and Qualitative Methods for Cell Isolation and Typing Including Immunophenotyping” filed Jul. 17, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/305,993 entitled “Capture Layer Assemblies and Optical Bio-Discs for Immunophenotyping” filed Jul. 17, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/306,592 entitled “Methods for Imaging Blood Cells, Blood-Borne Parasites and Pathogens, and Other Biological Matter Including Related Optical Bio-Discs and Drive Assemblies” filed Jul. 19, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/307,263 entitled “Quantitative and Qualitative Methods for Cell Isolation and Typing Including Immunophenotyping” filed Jul. 23, 2001; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/233,322 entitled “Capture Layer Assemblies for Cellular Assays Including Related Optical Analysis Discs and Methods” filed Aug. 30, 2002; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/236,857 entitled “Nuclear Morphology Based Identification and Quantification of White Blood Cell Types Using Optical Bio-Disc Systems” filed Sep. 6, 2002. All of these applications are herein in incorporated by reference.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Blood cell counts are used during diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up to determine the health of the patient. Complete blood count (CBC) is a collection of tests including hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular volume, platelet count, and white blood cell count. Blood count is the enumeration of the red corpuscles and the leukocytes per cubic mm of whole blood.
White Blood Cell Count (WBC, leukocytes) is the total number of white blood cells in a standard sample of blood. In a normal healthy person, typically the WBC counts are 4000 to 10800 cells per microliter (μl). Factors such as exercise, stress, and disease can affect these values. A high WBC may indicate infection, leukemia, or tissue damage. There is an increased risk of infection when the WBC count falls below 1000 cells per microliter.
Leukocyte differential testing is essential to gather information beyond that obtainable from the leukocyte count itself. Leukocyte differential count is used to evaluate newly suspected infection or fever (even if the CBC is normal), suspicion of a disorder associated with abnormalities, an abnormal leukocyte count, suspected leukemia, and other abnormalities such as eosinophilia, monocytosis, or basophilia. Repeated testing for leukocyte or leukocyte differential may be performed in the presence of severe leukopenia (e.g., secondary to drug therapy). During treatment, for example during chemotherapy or radiation therapy, blood counts are very important to determine whether the treatment is depleting healthy blood cells in addition to cancerous cells. Since chemotherapy affects the production of blood cells, it is important to check the amount of various kinds of cells in the blood.
Differential leukocyte counts are determined by computerized cell counting equipment. Such apparatus determine the total count and the percentages of the five major white cell types. In normal individuals, there are a majority of neutrophils (50–60%), followed by lymphocytes (20–40%), then monocytes (2–9%), with a few eosinophils (1–4%) and basophils (0.5–2%).
Within the category of lymphocytes there are further sub-types of cells. For example, lymphocytes can be broadly divided into T-cells (thymus-derived lymphocytes) and B-cells (bursal-equivalent lymphocytes), which are largely responsible for cell-mediated and humoral immunity respectively. Although morphological characteristics have been used to classify groups within the leukocytes, morphology alone has proved inadequate in distinguishing the many functional capabilities of lymphocyte sub-types. To distinguish lymphocytes with various functions, techniques including analysis by rosetting, immuno-fluorescence microscopy, enzyme histochemistry, and recently, monoclonal antibodies against unique cell surface markers have been developed.
T-cells are often further distinguished by the presence of one of two major cell surface antigens such as CD4 and CD8. Type CD4+ cells are referred to as helper T-cells and are involved in antibody-mediated immunity. These T-cells bind to antigens presented by B-cells and cause the development of a clone of plasma cells which secrete antibodies against the antigenic material. The CD4+ T-cells are also essential for cell-mediated immunity. It is understood that CD4+ T-cells bind to antigen presented by antigen-presenting cells (APCs) such as phagocytic macrophages and dendritic cells, and release lymphokines that attract other immune system cells to the area. The result is inflammation, and the accumulation of cells and molecules that attempt to wall off and destroy the antigenic material.
Type CD8+ T-cells are referred to as cytotoxic or killer T-cells. These T-cells secrete molecules that destroy the cell to which they have bound. This is important in fighting viral infections, since the CD8+ T-cells destroy the infected cells before they can release a fresh crop of viruses that are able to infect other cells.
Human immunodefiency virus is a retrovirus with high affinity for CD4+ T cells and therefore CD4+ T cells are potent targets for the virus. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) provides a vivid and tragic illustration of the importance of CD4+ T cells in immunity. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) binds to CD4+ molecules and invades and infects CD4+ T cells. As the disease progresses, the number of CD4+ T cells declines below its normal range of about 1000 per microliter (ul). One of the explanations may be the unceasing effort of the patient's CD8+ T cells to destroy the infected CD4+ cells. Alternately, uninfected CD4+ cells may be induced to commit suicide (apoptosis).
When the number of CD4+ T cells drop below 400 per microliter, the ability of the patient to mount an immune response declines dramatically. Not only does the patient become hypersusceptible to infections from pathogens that invade the body including microorganisms, especially viruses and fungi that normally inhabit our tissues without harming us. Eventually the patient dies of opportunistic infections like Candidiasis, Cytomegalovirus, Herpes simplex viruses, Pneumocystis carinii, pneumonia, Toxoplasmosis, Tuberculosis and others.
In addition to CD4 and CD8, there are many other cell surface antigens (for example, CD3, CD16, CD19, CD45, and CD56) which can be used to identify sub-types of lymphocytes. The ability to detect these cell surface antigens by antibody techniques has added a new dimension to diagnostic pathology, and a variety of techniques are available for the study of immunophenotypes of hematolymphoid disorders (e.g., AIDS, leukemias, and lymphomas). Conventional microimmuno-assays such as radio-immunoassays (RIA), enzyme-immunoassay (EIA), fluorescence-immunoassay (FIA) use an isotope, an enzyme, or a fluorescent substance in order to detect the presence or absence of corresponding antibodies or antigens, respectively, that react specifically therewith.
The number of platelets in a standard sample of blood typically is 133,000 to 333,000 platelets per microliter (μl). An excess number of platelets is called thrombocythemia. Above normal platelet counts may be due to a reactive response or bone marrow failure. Reactive responses are typically caused by bleeding, infection, neoplasia, and myeloproliferative disorders. Bone marrow failure usually involves loss of blood cells known as pancytopenia. On the other hand, decreased platelet counts are due to immune thrombocytopenia. Thrombocytopenia occurs if the platelet count fall below 30,000, which results in abnormal bleeding. Counts below 5000 are considered life threatening.
A number of therapeutic approaches are used to treat AIDS including protease inhibitors, reverse transcriptase inhibitors, Integrase inhibitors and others. Estimation of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocyte numbers and their ratio (CD4+/CD8+ T-lymphocytes) are critical to assess immune health of human patients with immune-compromised diseases and to assess the effectiveness of treatment.
The ability to detect cell-associated antigens by antibody techniques has added a new dimension to diagnostic pathology. A variety of techniques are available for the study of immunophenotypes of hematolymphiod disorders. Conventional microimmunoassays like radio-immunoassays (RIA), enzyme-immunoassay (EIA), fluorescence-immunoassay (FIA) use an isotope, an enzyme or a fluorescent substance in order to detect the presence or absence of corresponding antibodies or antigens, respectively, that react specifically therewith. However the above methods have limitations and disadvantages. RIA requires special installations, precautions, limited half-life and various other factors. Methods using enzyme or fluorescence substances as labels is measured by determining coloring or luminescence require sensitive, sophisticated instruments to detect the calorimetric or fluorescent reactions in addition to requiring several washing steps to remove excess, unbound, un-reacted reagents. Furthermore, application of the above methods of detection for cells particularly lymphocytes and cancer cells and the like specimens, needs improvement in technology for the preparation, detection and analysis in high efficiency.
A tool developed around the use of fluorescent antibody specific for cell-surface antigens is the technique of fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) of flow cytometry. This is a very reliable, fast and sensitive method. Flow cytometric analysis is performed on whole blood sample that is subjected to RBC lysis leaving the leukocytes intact. White cells of interest are then labeled with fluorescent markers for identification with the FACS scanner. The foremost requirement of a sample for flow cytometric analysis is that the sample is in a monodisperse suspension and desired cells are labeled with fluorescent markers. It is very high-priced test and the whole system requires handling by a trained technician in a clinical analysis laboratory and an expensive instrument. Another disadvantage with flow cytometry is that the cells once analyzed are no longer available for repeated analysis or additional investigation for example microscopic examinations of rare event cells.
Surface marker analysis is a very useful laboratory tool, which has been particularly very useful in studying leukemias, lymphomas and immunodeficiency diseases. Antibody-based micro-array technologies certainly are the state-of-the art technology, particularly in clinical diagnostics, for identification of specific antigens in a sample. Most diagnostic tests require determination of only a limited panel of analytes (such as in of cancers, leukemia, lymphoma, thyroid disease, etc.). Therefore, the requirements by a miniaturized technology for only a very small amount of blood sample and the savings in time and cost of laboratory personnel, upon simultaneous measurement of all the clinically relevant parameters in a single test are likely to prove compelling attractive to hospital laboratories and point-of-care facilities due to its cost-effectiveness, labor effective and its simplicity.
We have developed a simple, inexpensive system for analyzing specific cell surface antigens and performing data analysis in a fraction of time and cost compared to conventional methods. This system employs specially prepared optical bio-discs, related detection assemblies, and supporting software and processing methods.
Blood samples require processing prior to analysis similar to the protocol used for FACS scanner. Erythrocytes (red cells) due to their abundant numbers can interfere with specific binding of leukocytes (white cells). Therefore, prior to analyzing a sample with FACS scanner, blood samples are incubated with RBC lysing buffer that destroys red cells excluding the white cells.
In commonly assigned U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/308,197 filed Jul. 27, 2001, we describe a method developed and designed to perform helper/inducer-suppressor/cytotoxic assay on an optical bio-disc by isolating mononuclear cells from the whole blood using a density gradient protocol. In the present invention, we described a microfluidic chamber or circuit that can be used to perform the lysis procedure on the disc and the leukocyte material left over is dispelled into the assay or analysis chambers that have been layered with specific capture antibodies for helper/inducer-suppressor/cytotoxic assay. This particular chamber design may include two interconnected chambers. Chamber one contains the lysis buffer. Blood sample to be analyzed is injected into the “lysis” chamber. Incubated for 15 minutes for the lysis to be complete. Once the lysis is complete, the disc is spun to enable the remaining leukocytes to pass into the analysis chamber that has been coated with specific capture antibodies. Following incubation of chemistry with the cell sample for 30 minutes, the disc is read and imaged with the laser optics and the images analyzed with an appropriate software.
This invention relates in general to clinical diagnostic assays and related optical bio-discs. More specifically, but without restriction to the particular embodiments hereinafter described in accordance with the best mode of practice, this invention relates to cell typing, including CD (cluster designation) marker assays. The CD marker assay of the present invention is a cell capture assay for determination of the number of CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes in a sample. The present invention is further directed to RBC lyses, cell separation, and evaluations of helper/inducer-suppressor/cytotoxic t-lymphocytes using whole blood and related optical bio-discs.
Improved methods and apparatus for carrying out analyses on samples, such as blood, cerebrospinal fluid, sputum, urine, colonocytes, or any other biological source, in a timely, cost efficient, and technically relevant way are provided. In particular, there is a need for easier, more efficient ways to quantify the relative levels of various types of white blood cells, or other cell types, parasites, pathogens, and biological matter. The present invention responds to this need. In addition, this invention relates to imaging blood cells, performing differential white cell counts, and related processing methods and software.
The test is based upon the principle of localized cell capture on specific locations on the disc. Several specific cell capture fields are created on disc by localized application of capture chemistries based upon monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies to particular lymphocyte (white blood cells) antigens.
The assay is performed within a bio-disc that includes a flow chamber having specific antibodies attached to the solid phase. The CD marker assay or helper-inducer/suppressor-cytotoxic test determines the absolute numbers of target cells including CD4+, CD8+, CD3+ and CD45+ lymphocytes captured by specific antibodies in capture or target zones.
An optical disc drive assembly is employed to rotate the disc, read, and process any encoded information stored on the disc, and analyze the cell capture zones in the flow chamber of the bio-disc. The optical disc drive is provided with a motor for rotating the bio-disc, a controller for controlling the rate of rotation of the disc, a processor for processing return signals from the disc, and analyzer for analyzing the processed signals. The rotation rate is variable and may be closely controlled both as to speed and time of rotation. The optical disc drive may also be utilized to write information to the bio-disc either before or after the test material in the flow chamber and target zones are interrogated by a read beam of the drive and analyzed by an analyzer. The bio-disc may include encoded information for controlling the rotation of the disc, providing processing information specific to the type of immunotyping assay to be conducted and for displaying the results on a monitor associated with the drive.
It is an aspect of the invention to provide methods and apparatus for conducting an assay in association with an optical analysis disc to detect and count cells. A further aspect of the invention is to provide methods and apparatuses for conducting assays in association with an optical analysis disc to detect lymphocytes.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method that includes providing a sample in or on a disc surface, the disc having encoded information which is readable by an optical reader. This information can be used to control the scanning of the reader relative to the disc.
The disc is loaded into the optical reader, and an incident beam of electromagnetic radiation from a radiation source is directed to the disc. The beam is scanned over the disc by rotating the disc about a central axis and by moving the incident beam in a direction radial to the axis. A beam of electromagnetic radiation either transmitted through or reflected from the disc is detected and analyzed to extract information characteristic of the sample.
Embodiments of the invention also include a disc with a substrate and cap spaced to form a chamber. A sample of material, such as blood with cells, is provided in the chamber. When the disc is rotated, the sample moves past capture zones. The capture zones include capture layers with antibodies or other specific binding partners that bind to antigens such as CD4 and CD8 that are cell surface markers on the cell types of interest. Preferably one test can be used to image CD4 and CD8 and other antigens in a blood sample. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disc reader for directing light to viewing windows where the capture zones are located, and detecting transmitted or reflected light to identify and count captured cells. These CD4 and CD8 counts, and the ratio between them, are useful for monitoring conditions such as AIDS.
The test sample is preferably provided to a chamber within the disc. A single chamber preferably has multiple capture areas, each of which may have one or more antibodies. In one embodiment, a single channel has multiple capture zones, each with a different type of antibody, and may have capture zones that serve as control zones. These capture zones can be aligned along one or more radii of the disc. Detection methods include detecting transitions in the feature, or imaging the viewing window and using image recognition software to count captured cells. Counting may be direct, such as counting a desired cell; or indirect, such as counting a collection of desired and non-desired cells, counting non-desired cells, and subtracting to obtain a count of desired cells. The capture zone may have one or more layers of antibodies.
When a sample of cells is provided to the disc, the disc can be rotated in one or more stages to move the cells to the capture zones, then to move unbound cells away from the capture zones. The sample may be processed in other ways, e.g., incubated or heated with the light source that is used for detection. Microfluidics can be used to add stain or any other liquids that may be desired for on-disc processing of the sample. This processing is preferably specified in encoded information on the disc in information storage areas. The stored information may be advantageously employed to cause the drive and reader to rotate at desired speeds and for desired times with intermediate other steps, such as incubation.
Micro technologies are particularly valuable in clinical diagnostics for identification of cell types, parasites, pathogens, and other biological matter. The present invention utilizes micro technologies to perform differential white cell counts in whole blood on optical bio-discs. In addition, this invention is directed to imaging blood cells, performing differential white cell counts, and related processing methods and software.
Another test or assay according to the present invention may be performed in at least two ways. The first method is based upon the principle of optical imaging of blood cells in special channels located on the optical bio-disc. Approximately 5 to 20 microliters of whole blood is injected into specially designed channels on the disc. The images are analyzed with cell recognition software that identifies the various leukocyte sub-types and generates a white cell differential count. The second method is based on specific cell capture using cell specific antibodies against specific cell. In this particular embodiment, antibodies are directed against lymphocytes (CD2, CD19), monocytes (CD14), and eosinophils (CD15), for example. As with the related assay discussed above, these leukocyte sub-type specific antibodies are assembled/attached to a solid surface within the bio-disc that includes a flow chamber.
A bio-disc drive assembly is employed to rotate the disc, read and process any encoded information stored on the disc, and analyze the cell capture zones in the flow chamber of the bio-disc. The bio-disc drive is provided with a motor for rotating the bio-disc, a controller for controlling the rate of rotation of the disc, a processor for processing return signals from the disc, and analyzer for analyzing the processed signals. The rotation rate is variable and may be closely controlled both as to speed, time of rotation, and direction of rotation. The bio-disc may also be utilized to write information to the bio-disc either before, during, or after the test material in the flow chamber and target zones is interrogated by the read beam of the drive and analyzed by the analyzer. The bio-disc may include encoded information for controlling the rotation of the disc, providing processing information specific to the type of immunotyping assay to be conducted and for displaying the results on a monitor associated with the bio-drive.
The differential cell count protocols in general and in particular differential white blood cell counting protocols are developed for CD, CD-R, or DVD formats, modified versions of these formats, and alternatives thereto. The read or interrogation beam of the drive detects the various cells in the analysis sample and generates images that can be analyzed with differential cell counter software.
Microscopic methods or sophisticated cell counters are essential to perform these tedious and laborious cell-counting assays. The present method uses optical bio-discs and related assemblies. Optical images of the various leukocyte sub-types free in the analysis chamber or those captured by a specific antibody method are generated and analyzed by cell recognition software programs that identify the various cellular elements in the blood or other body fluids by their light scattering properties. This return light is detected after the light/matter interaction between the incident bean and the sample of interest. The detected return light signal is processed to provide discernable signal signatures or digital IDs. While prior art methods typically require preparation such as cell staining, RBC elimination, or other laborious protocols, embodiments of the present methods do not require any pre-processing of the sample. These methods include microscopic analysis or cell detection in a CD-type or optical disc reader using a top-detector, bottom-detector, event counter, or cell counter.
The following paragraphs provide a summary of the principal method steps according to certain specific preferred embodiments of the present invention directed to bio-disc manufacturing.
Disc Preparation: Gold reflective discs or transmissive discs are cleaned using an air gun to remove any dust particles. The disc is rinsed twice with iso-propanol, using the spin coater. A 2% polystyrene is spin coated on the disc to give a very thick coating throughout.
Deposition of Chemistry: One embodiment includes a three step deposition protocol that incubates: streptavidin, 30 minute incubated; biotinylated first antibody incubated for 60 minutes; and second capture antibody incubated for 30 minutes. All the steps are done at room temperature in a humidity chamber using stringent washing and drying steps between depositions.
Briefly, 1 μl of 1 mg/ml streptavidin in phosphate buffered saline is layered over each window and incubated for 30 minutes. Excess streptavidin is rinsed off using distilled water and the disc is dried. Biotinylated IgG-dextran complex is prepared by combining equal volumes of biotinylated IgG (125 μg/ml in PBS) and aldehyde-activated dextran (200 μg/ml). Dextran-aldehyde biotinylated-IgG complex is layered over streptavidin in each capture window and incubated for 60 minutes or overnight in a refrigerator. Excess reagent is rinsed off and the disc spun-dry. Specific barcode capture patterns are created by layering capture antibodies on designated spots on the bio-disc slot. For a differential count, anti-neutrophil (CD128 or others), anti-lymphocyte (CD2, CD19, CD56, and others), anti-eosinophil (CD15), anti-monocyte (CD14), anti-basophil (CD63), and anti-platelets (CD32 and CD151) are layered in designated spot of each slot, for example. Table 1 below lists examples of variations of capture patterns for capture layer assembly. Incubate for 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator. Assemble the disc using a 25 μm, 50 μm, or 100 μm (50 μm channel requires twice the volume of sample as that needed for 25 μm chamber), straight, U-shaped, or other channel formats and a clear cover disc (for use with a top detector) or reflective cover disc (for use with a bottom detector).
Disc Leak-Checking and Blocking Non Specific Binding of Undesired Cells: Since blood, a biohazardous material, is being analyzed, the discs are leak checked, as part of the quality control manufacturing aspects of the present invention, to make sure none of the chambers leak during spinning of the disc with the sample in situ. Each channel is preferably filled with StabilGuard, a commercially available blocking agent, and blocked for at an hour. The disc is spun at 5000 rpm for 5 minutes and inspected for leaks and disc stability. After checking for leaks, the disc is placed in a vacuum chamber for 24 hours. After vacuuming, the chambers filled with PBS buffer or empty are placed in a vacuum pouch and stored in refrigerator until use.
Isolation of Buffy-coat Layer from Whole Blood: Buffy coat is prepared by centrifuging defibrinated venous blood in a centrifuge tube for 25 minutes at 2800 rpm. The supernatant plasma is carefully removed with a fine pipette. Then pipette the underlying white layer that contains the leukocytes and the platelets. An alternate method to obtain the buffy coat from the blood without centrifugation is to allow the blood to sediment with sedimentation-enhancing agents such as fibrinogen, dextran, gum acacia, Ficoll, or methylcellulose. Boyum's reagent (methylcellulose and sodium metrizoate) is particularly suitable for obtaining leukocyte preparation without any red cell contamination. Alternatively the lymphocytes may be isolated form whole blood by positive or negative selection, or lysis methods.
Assay on Disc—Description of Base Technology: One preferred embodiment of the differential white cell count disc test includes three individual components, (1) base disc including the chemistry, (2) channel layer, and (3) cover disc.
Buffy coat, preferably diluted in PBS, is injected into the disc chamber, the inlet and outlet ports of the chamber are sealed with tape and the disc is incubated for a desired time preferably at room temperature. In other related commonly assigned cellular assays using bio-discs, whole blood is directly added in to fluidic circuits in the bio-disc and analysis is performed on whole blood samples. In the current invention, however, purified T lymphocyte cell samples are preferably used for the reasons stated below. For both purified sample and whole blood methods, a given area (e.g., one millimeter square in area) on the disc is scanned using the standard 780 nm laser of the optical drive with the top or bottom detector. Related cell recognition software developed by assignee and disclosed in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/363,949 entitled “Methods for Differential Cell Counts Including Leukocytes and Use of Optical Bio-Disc for Performing Same” filed Mar. 12, 2002 and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/404,921 entitled “Methods For Differential Cell Counts Including Related Apparatus and Software For Performing Same” filed Aug. 21, 2002, is automated to give a differential count from the captured image which is preferably equal to a millimeter square, for example. For the second method, the disc is scanned using the standard 780 nm laser to image the capture zone which may include lymphocytes, neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, monocytes, and platelets. The cell recognition software developed by assignee is automated to perform the following routines: (a) centrifuge the disc to spin off excess unbound cells, (b) image an specific area or specific capture zones, and (c) data processing that includes counting the specifically captured cells in each capture zone and deriving the numbers of different sub-sets of leukocytes.
During the processing step, the recognition software reads across each capture zone and marks cells it encounters. Following processing data from each capture zone, the software displays the number of lymphocytes, neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, monocytes, and platelets zones per micro liter volume of blood. The entire process takes about 10–15 minutes from inserting the disc into the optical drive to displaying to results of interest.
Related disclosure associated with the present invention is also presented in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/307,262 entitled “Capture Layer Assemblies and Optical Bio-Discs for Immunophenotyping” filed Jul. 23, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/307,264 entitled “Methods for Imaging Blood Cells, Blood-Borne Parasites and Pathogens, and Other Biological Matter Including Related Optical Bio-Discs and Drive Assemblies” filed Jul. 23, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/307,562 entitled “Optical Analysis Discs Including Fluidic Circuits for Optical Imaging and Quantitative Evaluation of Blood Cells Including Lymphocytes” filed Jul. 23, 2001; and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/307,487 entitled “Methods for Differential Cell Counts Including Leukocytes and Use of Optical Bio-Disc for Performing Same” filed Jul. 24, 2001, all of which are herein incorporated by reference.
The following paragraphs provided a summary of the principal elements of the disc specifications according to certain specific preferred embodiments of the present.
Tracking Design: In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the disc is a forward Wobble Set FDL21:13707 or FDL21:1270 coating with 300 nm of gold. On this reflective disc, oval data windows of size 2×1 mm are etched out by Lithography. “U” shaped channels are used to create chambers that are 25 μm in height. It takes about 7 μl of sample to fill the entire chamber including the inlet and outlet ports. A 4-window/4-channel format may be preferably used. However on the transmissive disc, no data windows are etched, and the entire disc is available for use.
Adhesive and Bonding: In one preferred embodiment, the adhesive or channel layer including the present “U” shaped fluidic circuits is made from Fraylock adhesive DBL 201 Rev C 3M94661. Alternatively straight channels are used to create the chambers.
Cover Disc: Clear disc, fully reflective with 48 sample inlets with a diameter of 0.040 inches location equidistant at radius 26 mm are used in one specific embodiment of the present disc assembly.
Data Capture and Processing: The data disc is scanned and read with the software at a preferred speed of ×4 and a sample rate of 2.67 MHz using assignee's cell recognition software.
Software: The present invention further includes processing methods and related cell recognition and imaging software. This software is directed to conducting and displaying cell counts and differential cell counts. The present software may be stored on the optical bio-disc, in the optical disc drive reader device, or alternatively only accessible by the optical reader from a secured server. This server may be implemented in a computing network such as a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), or otherwise made available over the Internet under prescribed terms and conditions. Such distribution methods are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/246,824 entitled “Interactive Method and System for Analyzing Biological Samples and Processing Related Medical Information Using Specially Prepared Bio-Optical Disc, Optical Disc Drive, and Internet Connections” filed Nov. 8, 2000 and related U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/986,078 entitled “Interactive System for Analyzing Biological Samples and Processing Related Information and the Use Thereof” filed Nov. 7, 2001, both of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.
Materials: The materials employed to practice different preferred embodiments disclosed herein include a forward wobble gold metalized photo-resist disc, a transmissive gold metalized disc, pipettes and tips, spin coater, centrifuge, swing-out rotor, Vacutainer™ CPT tubes with an anti-coagulant such as sodium citrate or ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA), humidity chamber, disc press, adhesive, cover disc, clear cover disc, tape or equivalent, vacuum apparatus, yellow tips, and vacuum chamber.
Reagents: The reagents employed in performing the cell counts according to certain methods of the present invention include phosphate buffered saline, isopropyl alcohol, distilled water, and StabilGuard.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome limitations in the known art. Another object of the present invention is to adapt a known optical disc system to perform differential white cell counts in whole blood on optical bio-discs. It is a further object of the present invention to image blood cells and perform differential white cell counts.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved in an optical disc and drive system for performing a cluster designation count that includes an optical assay disc, a light source, a photo detector circuit of an optical disc drive, and a processor. The optical assay disc includes a substrate, an active layer disposed over the substrate, and a cover disc or cap portion integrally attached to the active layer by an adhesive or channel member. The adhesive member has one or more portions removed therefrom thereby forming chambers in which one or more capture agents are immobilized. The capture agents, being immobilized on the active layer, and within the chambers, define discrete capture zones. The light source directs light to the disc at the capture zones. The photo detector circuit of the optical disc drive is configured to detect light reflected from, or transmitted through the disc and provide an information-carrying signal from an optical disc assembly. The processor is coupled to the photo detector circuit to obtain from the information-carrying signal, operational information used to operate the optical disc system and count items in the sample bound to the capture agents.
According to one particular aspect of this system, the processor includes image recognition software for detecting and imaging cells. In one embodiment, the photo detector is on the same side of the disc as the light source for detecting light reflected from the capture zones. In an alternate embodiment, the photo detector is on the opposite side of the disc as the light source for detecting light transmitted through the capture zones.
The present invention is also directed to a method of performing a cluster designation count with an optical disc and disc drive. The method includes the steps of providing a blood sample in a first tube containing a separation gradient, rotating the first tube at a time and speed sufficient to separate the blood sample into layers, resuspending a MNC layer that contains T-cells to form a MNC suspension, providing a sample of the MNC suspension on a disc surface that includes at least one capture zone containing at least one capture agent, loading the disc into an optical reader, rotating the disc, directing an incident beam of electromagnetic radiation to the capture zone, detecting a beam of electromagnetic radiation formed after interacting with the disc at the capture zone, converting the detected beam into an output signal, and analyzing the output signal to extract information relating to the number of cells captured at the capture zone. In one embodiment of this method, the optical disc is constructed with a reflective layer such that light directed to the capture zone and not striking a cell is reflected. In another embodiment of this method, the optical disc is constructed such that light directed to the capture zone and not striking a cell is transmitted through the optical disc. Other related aspects pertaining to determining concentrations of cell populations in a sample is disclosed in commonly assigned and co-pending U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/384,205 entitled “Optical Disc Systems For Determining The Concentration Of Cells or Particles In A Sample And Methods Relating Thereto” filed May 30, 2002. This application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
According to another aspect of this method, the disc surface is coated with a first group of capture agents. In one embodiment of thereof, the capture agents are immobilized on the disc surface by a cross-linking system. In an alternative embodiment, the capture agents are immobilized directly on the disc surface.
According to yet another aspect of this method, the capture agents define one or more discrete capture zones. In one particular embodiment thereof, the one or more capture zones are located within one or more chambers within the optical disc. In another embodiment of this method, the capture agents have a selective affinity for cell surface antigens. In an alternative embodiment, the capture agents are for binding with primary capture agents having a selective affinity for cell surface antigens. In a preferred embodiment, the cell surface antigens are independently selected from the CD family of antigens. In a more preferred embodiment, the cell surface antigens are selected from the group consisting of CD3, CD4, CD8, and CD45.
According to still another aspect of this method, the rotating includes rotating for a sufficient period of time at a sufficient speed so that the cells have an opportunity to bind with the capture agents. In an embodiment of this aspect of this method, the rotating further includes rotating for a sufficient period of time at a sufficient speed so that unbound cells are moved away from the capture zones. In a preferred embodiment of this aspect of this method, the rotating is done at a single speed.
The embodiments of the method according to these aspects of the present invention may advantageously further include the steps of directing the sample of MNC cells into proximity with the capture agents, incubating the cells in the presence of the capture agents, and allowing the cells to specifically bind to the capture agents. An embodiment of this method further includes the step of analyzing the number of cells captured to thereby determine a cell concentration in the sample. In one aspect of this embodiment, the analyzing includes detecting sufficiently large changes in the level of light reflected from or transmitted through the disc. In another aspect of this embodiment, the analyzing includes using image recognition to count the captured cells. In a preferred embodiment of this method, the image recognition distinguishes one type of white blood cell from another.
Another embodiment of this method further includes the steps of counting the captured cells in each of the capture zones and providing an output including cell counts. In an aspect of this embodiment, the output includes counts for CD4 cells and CD8 cells, and a ratio of CD4 to CD8 cells.
In accordance with yet another principal aspect of this invention, there is provided an alternate method of performing a cluster designation count. This alternate method includes the steps of (1) providing a blood sample in a tube containing a separation gradient, (2) rotating the tube at a time and speed sufficient to separate the blood sample into layers, (3) resuspending a MNC layer containing T-cells to form a MNC suspension, (4) adding a primary antibody to the MNC suspension to form a primary antibody-T-cell complex, (5) providing a sample of the primary antibody-T-cell complex on a disc surface that includes at least one capture zone containing at least one capture agent, (6) loading the disc into an optical reader, (7) directing an incident beam of electromagnetic radiation to the capture zone, (8) detecting a beam of electromagnetic radiation formed after interacting with the disc at the capture zone, (9) converting the detected beam into an output signal, and (10) analyzing the output signal to extract information relating to the number of cells captured at the capture zone.
Similarly in one embodiment of this alternate method, the optical disc is constructed with a reflective layer such that light directed to the capture zone and not striking a cell is reflected. In another embodiment of this method, the optical disc is constructed such that light directed to the capture zone and not striking a cell is transmitted through the optical disc.
According to an aspect of this method, the disc surface is coated with a first group of capture agents. In one embodiment thereof, the capture agents are immobilized on the disc surface by a cross-linking system. In an alternative embodiment, the capture agents are immobilized directly on the disc surface.
According to yet another aspect of this method, the capture agents define one or more discrete capture zones. In one particular embodiment thereof, the one or more capture zones are located within one or more chambers within the optical disc. In another embodiment of this method, the capture agents are for binding with cell surface antigens. In an alternative embodiment, the capture agents are for binding with a second group of capture agents having a selective affinity for cell surface antigens. In a preferred embodiment, the cell surface antigens are independently selected from the CD family of antigens. In a more preferred embodiment, the cell surface antigens are selected from the group consisting of CD3, CD4, CD8, and CD45.
According to yet another aspect of this method, the rotating includes rotating for a sufficient period of time at a sufficient speed so that the cells have an opportunity to bind with the capture agents. In an embodiment of this aspect of this method, the rotating further includes rotating for a sufficient period of time at a sufficient speed so that unbound cells are moved away from the capture zones. In a preferred embodiment of this aspect of this method, the rotating is done at a single speed.
The embodiments of the method according to these aspects of the present invention may advantageously further include the steps of directing the sample of primary antibody-T-cell complex into proximity with the capture agents, incubating the complexes in the presence of the capture agents, and allowing the complexes to specifically bind to the capture agents. An embodiment of this method further includes the step of analyzing the number of complexes captured to thereby determine a cell concentration in the sample. In one aspect of this embodiment, the analyzing includes detecting sufficiently large changes in the level of light reflected from or transmitted through the disc. In another aspect of this embodiment, the analyzing includes using image recognition to count the captured complexes. In a preferred embodiment of this method, the image recognition distinguishes one type of white blood cell from another.
Another embodiment of this method further includes the steps of counting the captured cells in each of the capture zones and providing an output including cell counts. In an aspect of this embodiment, the output includes counts for CD4 cells and CD8 cells, and a ratio of CD4 to CD8 cells.
In any of the above methods, the tube may further contain an anticoagulant. Further, in many of the specific implementations and embodiments of these methods, the surface on which the capture agent is immobilized is internal to the disc and is bounded on opposite sides by a substrate and cap.
According to the manufacturing aspects of this invention, there is provided a method of making an optical assay disc for performing a cluster designation count. This method of making an optical assay disc includes the steps of providing a cross-linker in a tube, adding a capture agent to the tube, allowing the cross-linker and the capture agent to combine (forming a complex), providing a substrate, coating the substrate with an active layer, depositing the complex onto the active layer, and attaching a cover disc or cap portion to the active layer using an adhesive member. In this embodiment, the cross-linker is aldehyde-activated dextran. The capture agents are for binding with cell surface antigens.
According to an aspect of this method, the depositing involves depositing the complexes are predefined locations, thereby forming capture zones. In one embodiment thereof, the attaching involves attaching a cover disc or cap portion having a reflective layer such that light directed to the capture zone and not striking a cell is reflected. In an alternative embodiment thereof, the attaching involves attaching a cover disc or cap portion having a semi-reflective layer such that light directed to the capture zone and not striking a cell is transmitted through the optical disc.
In an alternate embodiment, the capture agents include primary and secondary capture antibodies. The secondary antibodies are bound to the disc surface and have specific affinity for the primary capture antibodies. In this embodiment, the primary capture antibodies have a selective affinity for cell surface antigens of interest. In a preferred embodiment thereof, the cell surface antigens are selected from the CD family of antigens. In a more preferred embodiment, the cell surface antigens are selected from the group consisting of CD3, CD4, CD8, and CD45.
Also according to the manufacturing aspects of this invention, there is provided an alternate method of making an optical assay disc for performing a cluster designation count. This alternate method of making an optical assay disc includes the steps of providing a substrate, coating the substrate with an active layer, depositing a capture agent onto the active layer (forming a capture zone), incubating the substrate, rotating the substrate, and attaching a cover disc or cap portion to the active layer using an adhesive member. In one particular embodiment of this method, the step of incubating involves incubating for a sufficient period of time, at a sufficient temperature to allow immobilization of the capture agent onto the active layer. In another embodiment of this method, the step of rotating involves rotating for a sufficient period of time at a sufficient speed so that non-immobilized capture agents are moved away from the capture zones.
In accordance with another aspect of this method, the capture agent is selected from the group consisting of IgG, biotinylated-IgG, anti-CD3 antibody, biotinylated-anti-CD3 antibody, anti-CD4 antibody, biotinylated-anti-CD4 antibody, anti-CD8 antibody, biotinylated-anti-CD8 antibody, anti-CD45 antibody, and biotinylated-anti-CD45 antibody. In one embodiment of this aspect, the capture agent is a primary capture agent. In an alternative embodiment, the capture agent is a secondary capture. According to one aspect of this alternative embodiment, the method further includes the step of depositing a primary capture agent onto the secondary capture agent after the step of rotating. In another aspect of this alternative embodiment, the method further includes the steps of incubating the substrate and rotating the substrate following depositing the primary capture agent on the secondary capture agent.
According to yet another principal aspect of this invention, there is provided an optical assay disc for performing a cluster designation count. The optical assay disc includes a substrate, an active layer disposed over the substrate, a cover disc or cap portion integrally attached to the active layer by an adhesive member (having one or more portions removed to form one or more chambers defined therebetween), and one or more capture agents immobilized on the active layer. The capture agents define discrete capture zones within the one or more chambers. In one embodiment of this assay disc, the capture agents are immobilized by a cross-linking system. In an alternative embodiment of this assay disc, the capture agents are immobilized by the active layer.
In one particular embodiment of this optical assay disc, the capture agents are antibodies having a selective affinity for cell surface antigens. In a preferred embodiment, the capture agents are selected from the group consisting of antibodies for CD3, CD4, CD8, and CD45. In another embodiment of this optical assay disc, the capture agents are antibodies having a selective affinity for primary antibodies that have a selective affinity for cell surface antigens. Similarly, in a preferred embodiment of this aspect of the optical assay disc, the primary antibodies are selected from the group consisting of antibodies for CD3, CD4, CD8, and CD45. In this embodiment of the optical assay disc, the primary capture agents are anti-human produced in mice, and the secondary capture agents are anti-mouse produced in goats.
Technical aspects related to the present invention are also in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/307,489 entitled “Optical Analysis Discs Including Microfluidic Circuits for Performing Cell Counts” filed Jul. 24, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/307,825 entitled “Methods for Reducing Non-Specific Binding of Cells on Optical Bio-Discs Utilizing Charged Matter Including Heparin, Plasma, or Poly-Lysine” filed Jul. 25, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/307,762 entitled “Methods for Reducing Non-Specific Binding of Cells on Optical Bio-Discs Utilizing Blocking Agents” filed Jul. 25, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/307,764 entitled “Methods for Reducing Bubbles in Fluidic Chambers Using Polyvinyl Alcohol and Related Techniques for Achieving Same in Optical Bio-Discs” filed Jul. 25, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/308,214 entitled “Sealing Methods for Containment of Hazardous Biological Materials within Optical Analysis Disc Assemblies” filed Jul. 27, 2001; and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/308,197 entitled “Methods for Calculating Qualitative and Quantitative Ratios of Helper/Inducer-Suppressor/Cytotoxic T-Lymphocytes Using Optical Bio-Disc Platform” filed Jul. 27, 2001, all of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties. More specifically now, the present invention is further directed to an optical bio-disc for conducting a cellular assay. The optical bio-disc of the present invention may include the following components: a rotatable substrate, a cap portion associated with the substrate, and a fluidic circuit formed between said substrate and said cap portion. The fluidic circuit may include a mixing chamber associated with the substrate which includes an inlet port, a purification chamber in fluid communication with the mixing chamber, a filter means associated the said purification chamber, an analysis chamber having a capture zone in fluid communication with the purification chamber, and a vent port associated with the analysis chamber. The filter means may be made from microspheres or a cellular sieve. The microspheres may be coated with a purification agent. The purification agent may include monoclonal antibodies, polyclonal antibodies, oligonucleotides, ligands, receptors, and binding agents; wherein the monoclonal antibodies may be anti-CD56, anti-CD14, anti-CD19, anti-CD9, anti-CD31, anti-CD41, anti-CD13, anti-CD31, and anti-CD43 antibodies. The capture zone is coated with a capture agent which may be a monoclonal antibody, a polyclonal antibody, an oligonucleotide, a ligand, a receptor, or a binding agent. The monoclonal antibody may be an anti-CD4, anti-CD8, and anti-CD2 anitbody.
The optical bio-disc may also have a lysis buffer reservoir and a lysis buffer valve between a fluidic channel connecting the lysis buffer reservoir with the mixing chamber. The lysis buffer reservoir may be pre-filled with a lysis buffer. The optical bio-disc may also include an analysis buffer reservoir and an analysis buffer valve between a fluidic channel connecting the analysis buffer reservoir with the purification chamber. The analysis buffer reservoir may be pre-filled with an analysis buffer. The optical bio-disc may further include a waste chamber in fluid communication with the analysis chamber and the vent port. The optical bio-disc can also have a sample mix valve located in the fluidic circuit connecting the mixing chamber and the purification chamber. Further details relating to the above-mentioned optical bio-disc of the present invention is discussed below in conjunction with
The optical bio-disc described above may also include a RBC capture zone connecting the mixing chamber and the purification chamber such that when a sample is loaded into the mixing chamber, the sample flows through the RBC capture zone prior to entering the purification chamber. The RBC capture zone may include pier posts distributed throughout the RBC capture zone. The RBC capture zone can be a straight channel. It may also be serpentine, wavy, or sinusoidal. The RBC capture zone may be coated with a RBC capture agent including lectin. Examples of this type of fluidic circuit is described below in conjunction with
The present invention is also directed to a method of using the optical bio-disc described above which may include the following steps: loading a whole blood sample into the mixing chamber through the inlet port, loading the bio-disc into an optical reader, rotating the bio-disc at a first speed sufficient to open the lysis buffer valve and release the lysis buffer into the mixing chamber containing the blood sample, incubating the sample in said lysis buffer for a sufficient time to allow lysis of red blood cells in the sample, and rotating the bio-disc at a second speed sufficient to open the sample mix valve and allow movement of the sample into and through the purification chamber, where unwanted cells are captured, and through the analysis chamber where specific cells are captured on the capture zone. Once the cells move through the analysis chamber, an incident beam of electromagnetic radiation may then be directed to the capture zone. The beam of electromagnetic radiation formed after interacting with the disc at the capture zone may then be detected and the signal collected is then converted into an output signal and analyzed to extract therefrom information relating to the number of cells captured at the capture zone.
The present invention is also directed to another method for conducting a cellular assay which includes the following steps: loading a whole blood sample into the mixing chamber through the inlet port of the optical bio-disc described above, loading the bio-disc into an optical reader, rotating the bio-disc at a sufficient speed and time to move the sample through the RBC capture zone where red blood cells in the sample are captured, through the purification zone where unwanted cells in the sample are captured, and through the analysis chamber where specific cells are captured on the capture zone, directing an incident beam of electromagnetic radiation to the capture zone, detecting a beam of electromagnetic radiation formed after interacting with the disc at the capture zone, converting the detected beam into an output signal, and analyzing the output signal to extract therefrom information relating to the number of cells captured at the capture zone.
Another embodiment of the optical bio-disc of the present invention includes a rotatable substrate, a microfluidic cassette attached to the substrate, and fluidic circuits formed within the microfluidic cassette. The microfluidic cassette may be formed from plates having various cut-out sections to form the various components of the fluidic circuits including an inlet port, mixing chamber, flow channel, and purification chamber when the plates are assembled to form the microfluidic cassette. Further details regarding the microfluidic cassette is discussed below in conjunction with
The present invention further discloses an optical disc and drive system for receiving a sample which includes a bio-disc which has a substrate, a cap parallel to the substrate, a mixing chamber, purification chamber, and analysis chamber defined between the analysis chamber having capture zones, and a capture layer over the substrate at the capture zones such that a first capture zone has a first cell capture agent and a second capture zone has a second cell capture agent. The system includes an optical disc drive having a light source for directing light to the disc at the capture zones, a detector for detecting light reflected from or transmitted through the disc at the capture zones and providing a signal, and a processor for using the signal to count items in the sample bound to the capture molecules.
Yet another aspect of the present invention includes a method of making an optical bio-disc for use in cellular assays. This method of making the bio disc includes the following steps: forming a rotatable optical disc substrate, forming a cover disc with similar dimensions to the substrate, forming a channel layer with cut out portions to form fluidic circuits wherein the fluidic circuits includes an inlet port, a mixing chamber, a purification chamber, an analysis chamber, and a vent port; said analysis chamber including capture zones. The present method further includes the steps of binding capture probes onto the capture zones, attaching the channel layer to the substrate, loading a filter means into the purification chamber, and attaching the cover disc to the channel layer to thereby form the optical bio-disc. The attaching of the cover disc, channel layer, and substrate may be achieved using adhesives and plastic welding. The filter means may be made of microspheres and cellular sieves coated with a purification agent.
The above methods and apparatuses can have one or more advantages which include, but are not limited to, simple and quick on-disc processing without the necessity of an experienced technician to run the test, small sample volumes, use of inexpensive materials, and use of known optical disc formats and drive manufacturing. These and other features and advantages will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures and technical examples.
Further objects of the present invention together with additional features contributing thereto and advantages accruing therefrom will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments of the invention which are shown in the accompanying drawing figures with like reference numerals indicating like components throughout, wherein:
The present invention is directed to disc drive systems, optical bio-discs, cellular assays and related cell counting methods, image processing techniques, and related software. Each of these aspects of the present invention is discussed below in further detail.
Aspects of the present invention relating to the disc drive systems, optical bio-discs, cellular assays and related cell counting methods, image processing techniques, and related software disclosed herein are also presented in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/338,679 entitled “Quantitative and Qualitative Methods for Cell Isolation and Typing Including Immunophenotyping” filed Nov. 13, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/332,001 entitled “Capture Layer Assemblies and Optical Bio-Discs for Immunophenotyping” filed Nov. 14, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/334,131 entitled “Methods for Calculating Qualitative and Quantitative Ratios of Helper/Inducer-Suppressor/Cytotoxic T-Lymphocytes Using Optical Bio-Disc Platform” filed Nov. 30, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/353,300 entitled “Methods for Differential Cell Counts Including Leukocytes and Use of Optical Bio-Disc for Performing Same” filed Jan. 31, 2002; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/363,949 entitled. “Methods for Differential Cell Counts Including Leukocytes and Use of Optical Bio-Disc for Performing Same” filed Mar. 12, 2002; and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/404,921 entitled “Methods For Differential Cell Counts Including Related Apparatus and Software For Performing Same” filed Aug. 21, 2002, all of which are herein incorporated by reference.
Drive System and Related Discs
The second element shown in
The third element illustrated in
Referring now to
The second element shown in
The third element illustrated in
In addition to Table 2,
With reference next to
With continuing reference to
The final principal structural layer in this transmissive embodiment of the present bio-disc 110 is the clear, non-reflective cover disc or cap portion 116 that includes inlet ports 122 and vent ports 124.
Referring now to
As shown in
Cellular Assays
A generic homogeneous solid phase cell capture assay for the rapid determination of absolute number of CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocyte populations and ratio of CD4+/CD8+ lymphocytes in blood samples may be performed utilizing the methods of the invention. The test, which is run within small flow channels incorporated into a bio-disc, determines the number of CD4+, CD8+, CD2+, CD3+, CD19+, and CD45+ cells captured by the specific antibodies on the capture zones in 7–15 μl of mononuclear cells (MNC) isolated from whole blood. The test is based upon the principle of localized cell capture on specific locations on the disc. Several specific cell capture zones are created on the disc by localized application of capture chemistries based upon monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies to particular blood cell surface antigens. Upon flooding the 25–100 μl chambers with the MNC blood (10,000–30,000 cells/μl), cells expressing CD4, CD8, CD2, CD3, CD19, and CD45 antigens are captured in the capture zones within the disc. Also incorporated within the capture zones are defined negative control areas. Other related aspects directed to sorting and analyzing cells in a sample is disclosed in commonly assigned and co-pending U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/398,464 entitled “Optical Bio-disc Cell Sorter and Analyser” filed Jul. 25, 2002. This application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The flow channel or analysis chamber 130 of a bio-disc 110 is flooded with 7 μl of the MNC suspension, and the inlet ports 122 and vent ports 124 (
As further illustrated in
During the analyzing/processing step, the software reads across each capture zone image and marks cell images as it encounters them. For example, following counting of the number of captured CD4+ and CD8+ cells, the software calculates the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ cells and displays both the absolute numbers of cells in CD4+, CD8+, CD3+ and CD45+ capture zones per microliter of whole blood and also the CD4+/CD8+ ratio. The entire process takes about 12 minutes from inserting the disc into the optical drive to obtaining the numbers and ratios. Other related aspects regarding quantitating specific cell populations in a sample are disclosed in commonly assigned and co-pending U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/382,319 entitled “Methods For Calculating Specific Populations Of Cells Captured In An Optical Bio-Disc” filed May 22, 2002; and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/382,944 entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Use in Detection and Quantitation of Cell Populations and Use of Optical Bio-Disc for Performing Same” filed May 24, 2002. These applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.
In one embodiment, the disc is a forward Wobble Set FDL21:13707 or FDL21:1270 CD-R disc coated with 300 nm of gold as the encoded information layer. On a reflective disc, viewing windows of size 2×1 mm oval are etched out of the reflective layer by known lithography techniques. In some designs of transmissive disc, no separate viewing windows are etched, and the entire disc is available for use. In one specific embodiment, the adhesive layer is Fraylock adhesive DBL 201 Rev C 3M94661. The cover is a clear disc with 48 sample inlets with a diameter of 0.040 inches located equidistantly at radius 26 mm. The data disc is scanned and read with the software at speed 4× and sample rate 2.67 MHz using CD4+/CD8+ counting software.
Referring to
Cross-linking agents include, but are not limited to homobifunctional linkers, heterobifunctional linkers, and zero-length cross-linkers. Homobifunctional linkers are linkers with two reactive sites of the same functionality, such as glutaraldehyde. These reagents could tie one protein to another by covalently reacting with the same common groups on both molecules. Heterobifunctional conjugation reagents contain two different reactive groups that can couple to two different functional targets on proteins and other macromolecules. For example, one part of a cross-linker may contain an amine-active group, while another portion may consist of a sulfhydryl-active group. The result is the ability to direct the cross-linking reaction to selected parts of target molecules, thus garnering better control over the conjugation process. Zero-length cross-linkers mediate the conjugation of two molecules by forming a bond containing no additional atoms. Thus, one atom of a molecule is covalently attached to an atom of a second molecule with no intervening linker or spacer. One of ordinary skill in the art may refer to “Bioconjugate Techniques,” Greg T. Hermanson, Academic Press, San Diego, Calif., (1996), for a detailed description of cross-linking agents.
In the present invention, cross-linking agents are bound to the surface of a bio-disc to immobilize capture agents within the target zones. A preferred cross-linking or binding system is the heterobifunctional group consisting of biotin and avidin, i.e. biotinylated capture agents bound to an avidin-coupled substrate.
Implementations of the embodiments of the invention utilize capture agents to perform the assays described herein. It should be understood that a capture agent refers to any macromolecule for detecting an analyte. The capture agents of the invention include macromolecules preferentially selective, or having a selective binding affinity, for an analyte of interest. Capture agents include, but are not limited to, synthetic or biologically produced nucleic acid and synthetic or biologically produced proteins. Examples of capture agents that can be employed by this invention, include, but are not restricted to, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), oligonucleotides, polymerase chain reaction products, or a combination of these nucleotides (chimera), antibodies (monoclonal or polyclonal), cell membrane receptors, and anti-sera reactive with specific antigenic determinants (such as on viruses, cells, or other materials), drugs, peptides, co-factors, lectins, polysaccharides, cells, cellular membranes, and organelles. Preferably, capture agents of the invention are antibodies.
Antibodies include, but are not limited to polyclonal, monoclonal, and recombinantly created antibodies. Antibodies of the invention can be produced in vivo or in vitro. Methods for the production of antibodies are well known to those skilled in the art. For example, see Antibody Production: Essential Techniques, Peter Delves (Ed.), John Wiley & Son Ltd, ISBN: 0471970107 (1997), which is incorporated herein in its entirely by reference. Alternatively, antibodies may be obtained from commercial sources, e.g., Research Diagnostics Inc., Pleasant Hill Road, Flanders, N.J. 07836. Antibodies of the invention are not meant to be limited to antibodies of any one particular species; for example, antibodies of humans, mice, rats, and goats are all contemplated by the invention. Preferably, the primary antibodies of the invention are anti-human produced in mice, and the secondary antibodies of the invention are anti-mouse produced in goats.
The term “antibody” is also inclusive of any class or subclass of antibodies, as any or all antibody types may be used to bind to cell surface antigens. The use of antibodies in the art of medical diagnostics is well known to those skilled in the art. For example, see Diagnostic and Therapeutic Antibodies (Methods in Molecular Medicine), Andrew J. T. George and Catherine E. Urch (Eds.), Humana Press; ISBN: 0896037983 (2000) and Antibodies in Diagnosis and Therapy: Technologies, Mechanisms and Clinical Data (Studies in Chemistry Series), Siegfried Matzku and Rolf A. Stahel (Eds.), Harwood Academic Pub.; ISBN: 9057023105 (1999), which are incorporated entirely herein by reference.
In at least some embodiments of the invention, a plurality of capture agents is used to detect analytes of interest.
Aspects relating the cellular assays of the present invention are also disclosed in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/308,176 entitled “Quantitative and Qualitative Methods for Characterizing Cancerous Blood Cells Including Leukemic Blood Samples Using Optical Bio-Disc Platform” filed Jul. 27, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/312,248 entitled “Methods for Quantitative and Qualitative Characterization of Cancerous Blood Cells Including Lymphoma Blood Samples Using Optical Bio-Disc Platform” filed Aug. 15, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/313,514 entitled “Methods for Specific Cell Capture by Off-Site Incubation of Primary Antibodies with Sample and Subsequent Capture by Surface-Bound Secondary Antibodies and Optical Bio-Disc Including Same” filed Aug. 20, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/313,715 entitled “RBC Lysis Protocol Evaluations of Helper/Inducer-Suppressor/Cytotoxic T-Lymphocytes Using Whole Blood and Related Optical Bio-Disc” filed Aug. 20, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/313,536 entitled “RBC Sieving Protocol Evaluations of Helper/Inducer-Suppressor/Cytotoxic T-Lymphocytes Using Whole Blood and Related Optical Bio-Disc” filed Aug. 20, 2001; and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/315,937 entitled “Quantitative and Qualitative Methods for Cell Isolation and Typing Including Immunophenotyping” filed Aug. 30, 2001, all of which are herein incorporated by reference.
Implementation I
A second embodiment of the first implementation of the invention involves construction of a reflective disc 110 without the use of a cross-linking system to immobilize the capture agents within the flow channels 130 of the bio-disc 110. In this embodiment, a reference mark or calibration dot 202 is deposited over the first window 141 and non-biotinylated primary antibodies 188 (
A third embodiment of the first implementation of the invention involves construction of a transmissive disc 110 utilizing a cross-linking system to immobilize the capture agents within the flow channels 130 of the bio-disc 110. In this embodiment, the substrate 120, semi-reflective layer 143 without viewing windows 200 (
Implementation II
A second embodiment of the second implementation of the invention involves construction of a reflective disc 110 without the use of a cross-linking system to immobilize capture agents within the flow channels 130 of the bio-disc 110. In this embodiment, a reference mark or calibration dot 202 is deposited over the first window 141 and non-biotinylated secondary antibodies 186 (
A third embodiment of the second implementation of the invention involves construction of a transmissive disc 110 utilizing a cross-linking system to immobilize the capture agents within the flow channels 130 of the bio-disc 110. In this embodiment, the substrate 120, semi-reflective layer 143 without viewing windows 200 (
Implementation III
According to the manufacturing aspects of this invention,
A second embodiment of the third implementation of the invention involves construction of a reflective disc 110 without the use of a secondary antibody to immobilize the primary capture agents within the flow channels 130 of the bio-disc 110. In this embodiment, equal concentrations of DCHO 198 and primary antibodies 188 are mixed and allowed to combine, thereby forming the DCHO-antibody (primary) complex 199 represented in
A third embodiment of the third implementation of the invention involves construction of a transmissive disc 110 utilizing the cross-linker DCHO to immobilize the capture agents within the flow channels 130 of the bio-disc 110. In this embodiment, the substrate 120, semi-reflective layer 143 without viewing windows 200 (
Implementation IV
Turning now to
A second embodiment of the fourth implementation of the invention involves construction of a reflective disc 110 without the use of a cross-linking system to immobilize the capture agents within the flow channels 130 of the bio-disc 110. In this embodiment, a reference mark or calibration dot 202 is deposited over the first window 141 and non-biotinylated secondary antibodies 186, shown generally in
A third embodiment of the fourth implementation of the invention involves construction of a transmissive disc 110 utilizing a cross-linking system to immobilize the capture agents within the flow channels 130 of the bio-disc 110. In this embodiment, the substrate 120, semi-reflective layer 143 without viewing windows 200 (
Cluster Designation Count—Implementation I
Referring next to
Cluster Designation Count—Implementation II
With reference now to
Cluster Designation Count—Implementation III
Turning next to
Cluster Designation Count—Implementation IV
Referring now to
Those skilled in the art will appreciate in light of these teachings that one or more embodiments of one or more implementations of the methods of the invention may be combined without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention.
Cell Detection and Related Software
Referring now to
These cells can be detected through one of a variety of different methods including, for example, using edge detection hardware or software to detect and count sufficiently large changes in the level of transmitted or reflected light and thus count the transitions and hence the cells. Another method, described in more detail below, uses image or pattern recognition software to identify cells against the background. Image recognition can distinguish WBCs from RBCs, and also distinguish neutrophils, monocytes, basophils, eosinophils, granulocytes, and lymphocytes.
An optical disc with tracks on the order of 1.6 microns apart can be used to image cells or aggregates on the disc. For example, a white blood cell would typically have a diameter of at least 5 and as many as 12 tracks, and therefore an image of that white blood cell can be obtained.
To obtain such an image, a transmissive disc of the type shown in
After images such as those in
With reference now to
Aspects of the present invention relating to cell detection and associated processing methods are also disclosed in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/316,273 entitled “Capture Layer Assemblies and Optical Bio-Discs for Immunophenotyping” filed Aug. 31, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/318,026 entitled “Methods for Imaging Blood cells, Blood-Borne Parasites and Pathogens, and Other Biological Matter Including Related Optical Bio-Discs and Drive Assemblies” filed Sep. 7, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/322,527 entitled “Optical Analysis Discs Including Microfluidic Circuits for Performing Cell Counts” filed Sep. 14, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/322,040 entitled “Optical Analysis Discs Including Fluidic Circuits for Optical Imaging and Quantitative Evaluation of Blood Cells Including Lymphocytes” filed Sep. 11, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/322,863 entitled “Methods for Differential Cell Counts Including Leukocytes and Use of Optical Bio-Disc for Performing Same” filed Sep. 12, 2001; and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/322,793 entitled “Methods for Reducing Non-Specific Binding of Cells on Optical Bio-Discs Utilizing Charged Matter Including Heparin, Plasma, or Poly-Lysine” filed Sep. 17, 2001, all of which are herein incorporated by reference.
Differential Cell Count Methods and Related Software
A number of methods and related algorithms for white blood cell counting using optical disc data are herein discussed in further detail. These methods and related algorithms are not limited to counting white blood cells, but may be readily applied to conducting counts of any type of cellular matter including, but not limited to, red blood cells, white blood cells, beads, and any other objects, both biological and non-biological, that produce similar optical signatures that can be detected by an optical reader.
For the purposes of illustration, the following description of the methods and algorithms related to the present invention as described with reference to
With continuing reference to
Referring next to
During the analog-to-digital transformation, each consecutive sample point 224 along the laser path is stored consecutively on disc or in memory as a one-dimensional array 226. Each consecutive track contributes an independent one-dimensional array, which yields a two-dimensional array 228 (
With particular reference now to
Referring next to
Referring now to
The computational and processing algorithms of the present invention are stored in analyzer 168 (
The next principle step 246 is selecting an area of the disc for counting. Once this area is defined, an objective then becomes making an actual count of all white blood cells contained in the defined area. The implementation of step 246 depends on the configuration of the disc and user's options. By way of example and not limitation, embodiments of the invention using discs with windows such as the target zones 140 shown in
In embodiments of the invention using a transmissive disc without windows, as shown in
As for the user options mentioned above in regard to step 246, the user may specify a desired sample area shape for cell counting, such as a rectangular area, by direct interaction with mouse selection or otherwise. In the present embodiment of the software, this involves using the mouse to click and drag a rectangle over the desired portion of the optical bio-disc-derived image that is displayed on a monitor 114. Regardless of the evaluation area selection method, a respective rectangular area is evaluated for counting in the next step 248.
The third principal step in
The next step in the flow chart of
As shown in
An optional step 254 directed to removing bad components may be performed as indicated in
The next principal processing step shown in
In some hardware configurations, some cells may appear without bright centers. In these instances, only a dark rim is visible and the following two optional steps 258 and 260 are useful.
Step 258 is directed to removing found cells from the picture. In step 258, the circular region around the center of each found cell is filled with the value 2000 so that the cells with both bright centers and dark rims would not be found twice.
Step 260 is directed to counting additional cells by dark rims. Two transforms are made with the image after step 258. In the first substep of this routine, substep (a), the value v at each point is replaced with (2000−v) and if the result is negative it is replaced with zero. In substep (b), the resulting picture is then convolved with a ring of inner radius R1 and outer radius R2. R1 and R2 are, respectively, the minimal and the maximal expected radius of a cell, the ring being shifted, subsequently, in substep (d) to the left, right, up and down. In substep (c), the results of four shifts are summed. After this transform, the image of a dark rim cell looks like a four petal flower. Finally in substep (d), maxima of the function obtained in substep (c) are found in a manner to that employed in counting step 256. They are declared to mark cells omitted in step 256.
After counting step 256, or after counting step 260 when optionally employed, the last principal step illustrated in
Other related aspects regarding processing data collected from an optical bio-disc assay is disclosed in commonly assigned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/241,512 entitled “Methods for Differential Cell Counts Including Related Apparatus and Software Performing Same” filed Sep. 11, 2002. This application is incorporated by reference in its entirety as if fully repeated herein.
Methods for Isolating T-Lymphocytes from Whole Blood
There is a need for a method for isolating T cells or T lymphocytes from a cell sample including whole blood or mononuclear cell samples prepared using the gradient method described above in conjunction with
Cell preparation using Prepacyte takes about 30 minutes. For example, T cells may be isolated from whole blood by the following procedure. First, anticoagulated blood is mixed with an equal volume of Prepacyte. For the cell prepartion for the CD marker case of the present invention, for example, 1 ml of whole blood is mixed with 1 ml of Prepacyte to create an assay solution. The assay solution is then mixed gently for about 15 mins. to allow agglutination of unwanted cells. Then the assay solution is placed upright on a test tube rack for about 15 minutes to allow precipitation of the now agglutinated unwanted cells. After precipitation of unwanted cells, the supernatant containing the T cells are then removed and placed in a new container. The T cells are then washed in PBS. The washed T cells are then counted and resuspended in PBS to a pre-determined cell concentration. The T lymphocyte suspension is then loaded into the optical bio-disc for analysis.
Alternatively, isolation of specific cell populations including T cells from a cell sample including whole blood, for example, may be carried out using cell capture methods. In the cell capture method, antibodies directed against unwanted cells are bound to a solid phase including beads, a bio-matrix, or membranes. The cell sample is then passed through and allowed to interact with the solid phase where the unwanted cells are bound and only the desired cells pass through. Further details relating to other aspects associated with the use of a bio-matrix for cell separation and purification is disclosed in, for example, commonly assigned co-pending U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/365,462 entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Separating Whole Blood Components in an Optical Bio-disc Analysis Chamber for use in Biomedical Assays” filed Mar. 18, 2002, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.
Yet another alternative for separating cells of interest from a sample including whole blood and mononuclear cells is the use of magnetic bead separation. In this method cells of interest may be positively or negatively selected from the sample. In negative selection method, magnetic beads are coated with antibodies specific to unwanted cells. The beads are mixed with the sample and incubated to allow the beads to bind to unwanted cells. The unwanted cells are then removed by exposing the sample to a magnetic field. The removal of unwanted cells may be carried out inside the fluidic circuit of the bio-disc and/or using a magneto-optical bio-disc. In contrast, positive selection uses magnetic beads having specific antibodies to the cell type/s of interest. The beads are mixed with the sample and incubated to allow the beads to bind to cells of interest. The magnetically tagged desired cell types are then isolated from the rest of the sample by exposing the sample to a magnetic field. The isolation of cells of interest may be carried out inside the fluidic circuit of the bio-disc and/or using a magneto-optical bio-disc. Further details relating to magneto-optical bio discs is disclosed in, for example, commonly assigned co-pending U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 10/099,256 entitled “Dual Bead Assays using Cleavable Spacers and/or Ligation to Improve Specificity including Related Methods and Apparatus” filed Mar. 14, 2002; and Ser. No. 10/099,266 entitled “Use of Restriction Enzymes and other Chemical Methods to Decrease Non-Specific Binding in Dual Bead Assays and Related Bio-Discs, Methods, and System Apparatus for Detecting Medical Targets” filed Mar. 14, 2002, which are both incorporated by reference in their entireties. Details relating to separating cells tagged with magnetic particles is disclosed in commonly assigned co-pending U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/398,464 entitled “Optical Bio-disc Cell Sorter and Analyser” filed Jul. 25, 2002; which is herein incorporated in its entirety by reference.
Still another alternative for separating cells is using a microfluidic chamber that can be used to separate or remove red blood cells through a sieving device integrated into the microfluidic chamber. The sieve that has apertures that are approximately about 5 micrometer (um) allow red cells to pass through and are collected in the waste chamber. The larger (>5 um) white cells are expelled into the assay chamber that has been layered with specific capture antibodies for helper/inducer-suppressor/cytotoxic assay. This particular chamber design has two interconnected slots or chambers. Chamber one contains the sieve. Blood sample to be analyzed is injected into the “sieving” chamber. As the blood cells come in contact with the sieve, red cells pass through the sieve that allows objects 5 um or less to pass through. Red cells are eliminated by using optimal centrifugal force, white blood cells that remain over the sieve are propelled into the “assay” chamber, that has been coated with specific capture antibodies. Following 30 minutes incubation for the antibody-antigen interaction, disc is read and imaged with the laser optics and the images analyzed with the CD4CD8 software.
A further alternative for isolating cells of interest, like leukocytes from whole blood, is to perform RBC lysis in the biodisc 110. The leukocyte material left over after lysis is dispelled into analysis chambers that have been layered with specific capture antibodies for helper/inducer-suppressor/cytotoxic assay. This particular fluidic circuit may include two interconnected slots or chambers. Chamber one may contain a lysis buffer (lysis chamber). Blood sample to be analyzed is injected into the “lysis” chamber. Incubated for 15 minutes for complete lysis. Once the lysis is complete, the disc is spun to enable the remaining leukocytes to pass into an analysis chamber, that has been coated with specific capture antibodies. Following a pre-determined incubation period, the disc is read and imaged with the laser optics and the images analyzed with a cellular analysis system. Further details regarding related cellular analysis systems are disclosed in for example commonly assigned U.S. Provisional Application Ser. Nos. 60/356,982, 60/372,007, and 60/408,227, each entitled “Bio-disc and Bio-drive Analyser System including Methods Relating Thereto”, respectively filed on Feb. 13, 2002, Apr. 11, 2002, and Sep. 9, 2002; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/279,677 entitled “Segmented Area Detector for Biodrive and Methods Relating Thereto” filed on Oct. 24, 2002, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/241,512 entitled “Methods for Differential Cell Counts Including Related Apparatus and Software Performing Same” filed on Sep. 11, 2002.
As mentioned above, the isolation of T cells may be carried out in a fluidic circuit in the optical bio-disc.
With reference to
Referring next to
The beads 324 may carry different chemical functionalities including, for example, carboxyl, amino, aldehyde, and hydrazine functional groups that facilitate binding of the purification agents. The purification agents may bind onto a solid phase through various chemical processes described below in detail. Thiol or amine active groups may be covalently bound to the purification agents to thereby produce a modified purification agent. This modified purification agent may then be directly bound through their attached active groups by covalent dative binding directly to metal surface such as gold, for example. If the purification agent is a protein, direct binding of the purification agent to the gold surface may carried out through dative binding of exposed cysteine and methionine residues on the protein without the need for thiol or amine modification. The bond between the purification agent and the surface of beads, for example, is sufficient so that the purification agent remains attached to the beads, when the disc 110 is rotated.
Several methods may be used to form functionally active biochemical layers on the surface of beads and the polycarbonate (PC) or gold surface of the disc substrate 120. Passive adsorption is one preferred method for achieving the linkage of a bio-chemical, chemical, binding reagent, or purification agent to the polymer or metal surface of the disc substrate 120 and to polymer surfaces of microspheres or beads. Large bio-molecules containing pockets of hydrophobic amino acids, carbohydrates, and similar components are easily linked to a non-polar polymer surface through passive adsorption. The hydrophobic forces exhibited by the polymer and the bio-molecule or purification agent, as well as the electrostatic interaction between the substrate and the purification agent, result in the formation of a stable linkage. The pH, salt concentration, and presence of competing substances will, among other factors, determine the extent to which various purification agents link non-covalently to the plain surface of the polymer or the metal covered polymer surface. If the purification agent is a protein, the pH of the coating buffer containing the purification agent affects the binding of the capture agent onto the polymer substrate or metal layer. A pH of the coating buffer solution close to the isoelectric point of the purification agent will increase the hydrophobicity of the protein thus leading to a stronger interaction of the protein with the substrate resulting in stronger bonding and most likely also to higher density of immobilized capture agent.
Alternatively, thiolated purification agents may be immobilized onto the gold or metallic surface through dative binding of thiol active groups on the purification agent. In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the purification agents are proteins, these purification agents may be directly bound to a gold surface, of a colloidal gold particle, covalently by dative binding to form metalorganic bonds through cysteine or methionine residues of the purification agent or binding protein. The dative binding of the thiol or methionine active groups may be facilitated by a mild reducing agent such as sodium cyanoborohydride (NaCNBH3). In yet another embodiment of the present invention, thiolated forms of affinity agents such as biotin, streptavidin, avidin, Neutravidin, and BSA-biotin may be initially bound to the gold surface by dative binding, either directly through cysteine and methionine residues on the surface of these proteins or through attached thiol active groups on thiolated proteins. Purification agents conjugated with an appropriate binding pair including biotin, streptavidin, Neutravidin, and avidin are then mixed with the beads or nano-particles and allowed to bind to the beads having the respective affinity agents. In still another embodiment, streptavidin or biotin may be used as a bridging agent to bind respectively, a biotinylated or streptavidinated, bead surface to its respective streptavidinated or biotinylated purification agent.
Passive adsorption of the purification agents may not work for a number of biopolymers that do not interact passively with the chemically inert surface of the polymer substrate or the metal covered polymer substrate. This is because there may be a lack of sites for non-covalent interaction. Proteins of low molecular weight, polypeptides, and molecules with predominantly ionic character, for example, do not link to polymer surfaces due to lack of, or the presence of only very weak, hydrophobic or electrostatic interaction.
Another critical aspect in immobilizing binding proteins or purification agents onto a solid support is the retention of functional activity of bound protein or purification agent. Frequently, the purification agents loose their biochemical properties due to denaturation in the process of immobilization involving structural reorganization followed by conformational changes and accompanying changes of functionally active sites. Enzymes, receptors, lectins, and antibodies are examples of such bio-polymers, binding proteins, or purification agents.
Situations where the lack of passive interaction with the support polymer substrate or the loss of functional activity due to the immobilization process, necessitate another approach. The approach taken in these cases leads to the functionalization of the chemically inert surface of the beads or disc substrate upon which the immobilization of the biochemical reagent is intended. Functionalization is a process by which the bead surface, disc substrate, or metal surface is modified by attaching specific molecules or polymers with functional groups to the surface. The functional groups are then used to bind recognition molecules such as binding proteins, capture antibodies, receptors, and other similar assay components. Structural changes of the binding protein at regions of the molecule known not to harbor vital biochemical function will augment the contribution derived from the modified substrate or metal surface.
Surfaces of polymeric materials have been modified previously. See for instance Braybrook et al., Prog. Polym. Sci. 15:715–734, 1990. Most of the modification procedures known in the art involve sequential treatment of surfaces with chemical reagents. Examples include sulfonation of polystyrene, Gibson et al., Macromolecules 13:34, 1980; base hydrolysis of polyimide, Lee et al., Macromolecules 23:2097, 1990; and base treatment of polyvinylidene fluoride, Dias et al., Macromolecules 17:2529, 1984. Another conventional method for modifying polymer surfaces includes exposing the surface of a hydrocarbon such as polyethylene with nitrene or carbene intermediates generated in a gas phase (Breslow in “Azides and Nitrenes”, chapter 10, Academic Press, New York, 1984). Perfluorophenyl azides (PFPAs) have been shown to be efficient in the insertion in CH bonds over their non-fluorinated analogues (Keana et al., Fluorine Chem. 43:151, 1989). Recently, bis-(PFPA)s have been shown to be efficient cross-linking agents for Polystyrene (Cai et al., Chem. Mater. 2:631, 1990).
Chemical modification of the inert polymer surface is efficiently done through grafting procedures that allow the deposition of a thin interphase layer, active layer, or interlayer on the surface of beads, for example. Ideally, the interphase layer should make a stable linkage of the grafted material to the bead surface and contain a spacer molecule ending in a functional group or variety of chemically different functional groups. This allows the selection of specific surface chemistries for efficient covalent immobilization of a variety of purification agents with different demand for spatial orientation, including side directed attachment within the structure of the binding protein. The introduction of spacer molecules, especially hydrophilic spacers as part of the graft, contributes significantly to the flexibility and accessibility of the immobilized purification agents. By placing a spacer layer between the solid phase of the substrate modified or grafted with different functional groups and the binding protein, a potentially denaturing effect of the direct contact of the protein with the functional groups is eliminated.
Referring to
Referring now to
In use, whole blood is added to the mixing chamber 134 through inlet port 122 of the “hammerhead” fluidic circuit 314. The disc is then spun at a pre-determined speed and time sufficient to allow movement of the sample into the RBC capture zone 318 and allow RBCs to bind with the RBC capture agents lining the zone 318 and the “pier posts” 320. As the sample passes through the RBC capture zone 318 a majority, if not all, of the RBCs get captured and white blood cells pass through and enter the T cell purification zone 300. As the white blood cells pass through the T cell purification zone 300, unwanted cells are trapped or captured by the beads 324 in the T cell purification zone 300. The cells that move past the T cell purification zone 300 are purified T cells and are analyzed in the analysis chamber 130 wherein specific types of T cells including, for example, CD4+ and CD8+ cells, are captured and quantified. Excess buffer and sample moves to the waste chamber 312.
Referring next to
With reference now to
Turning next to
Turning next to
Experimental Details
While this invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawing figures, certain examples and further illustrations of the invention are presented below.
A. Disc Manufacturing Including Substrate Preparation and Chemistry Deposition
In this example, a reflective disc or transmissive disc substrate 120 (
The chemistry is then deposited. One embodiment includes a three step deposition protocol that incubates: streptavidin, incubated for 30 minutes; biotinylated first antibody incubated for 60 minutes; and a second capture antibody incubated for 30 minutes. The first antibody can be raised in a first species (e.g., sheep) against a type of immunoglobulin (e.g., IgG, IgE, IgM) of a second species (e.g., mouse). The second capture antibody is raised in the second species against a specific cell surface antigen (e.g., CD4, CD8). The steps are done at room temperature in a humidity chamber using washing and drying steps between depositions.
A 1 μl ratio of 1 mg/ml streptavidin in phosphate buffered saline is layered over each window and incubated for 30 minutes. Excess streptavidin is rinsed off using distilled water and the disc is dried. Equal volumes of biotinylated anti-mouse IgG (125 μg/ml in PBS) and activated dextran aldehyde (200 μg/ml) are combined. Dextran aldehyde (DCHO)-biotinylated anti-mouse IgG is layered over streptavidin in each capture window and incubated for 60 minutes or overnight in refrigerator. Excess reagent is rinsed and the disc is spun dry.
As shown in
The pattern of chemistry deposition is provided below in Table 3.
B. Disc Assembly
The disc is assembled using an adhesive layer that may, for example, be 25, 50, or 100 microns thick (channel layer 118 in
In one embodiment, the disc is a forward Wobble Set FDL21:13707 or FDL21:1270 CD-R disc coated with 300 nm of gold as the encoded information layer. On a reflective disc, viewing windows of size 2×1 mm oval are etched out of the reflective layer by known lithography techniques. In some designs of transmissive disc, no separate viewing windows are etched, and the entire disc is available for use. In this particular example, the channel layer is formed from Fraylock adhesive DBL 201 Rev C 3M94661. The cover is a clear disc with 48 sample inlets each with a diameter of 0.040 inches located equidistantly at radius 26 mm. The data disc is scanned and read with the software at speed 4× and sample rate 2.67 MHz using CD4/CD8 counting software.
C. Disc Leak Check
Because blood is being analyzed, the disc can be leak checked first to make sure none of the chambers leak during spinning of the disc with the sample in situ. Each channel is filled with a blocking agent, such as StabilGuard and PBS-Tween. The block is for at least 1 hour. The disc is spun at 5000 rpm for 5 minutes to leak proof and check disc stability. After checking for leaks, the disc is placed in a vacuum chamber for 24 hours. After vacuuming for 24 hours, discs are placed in a vacuum pouch and stored in refrigerator until use.
D. Sample Collection, Preparation, and Application to Disc
The following section is directed to sample processing steps which are generally shown in
If a blood sample cannot be processed immediately, mononuclear cells after the first centrifugation can be resuspended in plasma by gently inverting the CPT tube several times and stored for up to 24 hours at room temperature. Within 24 hours, the cells in the plasma can be collected and washed as described above.
E. CD4/CD8 Assay Format
The assay in this example is a generic homogeneous solid phase cell capture assay for the rapid determination of absolute number of CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocyte populations and ratio of CD4+/CD8+ lymphocytes in blood samples. The test, which is run within a small chamber incorporated into a CD-ROM, determines the number of CD4+, CD8+, CD2+, CD3+ and CD45+ cells captured by the specific antibodies on the capture zones in 7 μl of mononuclear cells (MNC) isolated from whole blood. The test is based upon the principle of localized cell capture on specific locations on the disc. Several specific cell capture zones are created on the disc by localized application of capture chemistries based upon monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies to particular blood cell surface antigens. Upon flooding the chamber with the MNC blood (30,000 cells/μl), cells expressing antigens CD4, CD8, CD2, CD3 and CD45 are captured in the capture zones on the disc. Also incorporated within the bar code are defined negative control areas.
F. On-Disc Analysis
MNC cells, prepared in step D above (18 μl in PBS), are injected into the disc chamber, and inlet and outlet ports of the chamber are sealed. The disc is incubated for 15 minutes at room temperature, and then scanned using a 780 nm laser in an optical drive with a top detector to image the capture field as described above.
Software is encoded on the disc to instruct the drive to automatically perform the following acts: (a) centrifuge the disc to spin off excess unbound cells in one or more stages, (b) image specific capture windows, and (c) process data including counting the specifically-captured cells in each capture zone and deriving the ratio of CD4/CD8 (or which ever ratio is programmed to be determined).
During the processing step, the software reads across each capture zone image and marks cells as it encounters them. For example, following estimation of number of CD4+ and CD8+ cells, the software calculates the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ cells and displays both the absolute numbers of cells in CD4+, CD8+, CD3+ and CD45+ capture zones per microliter of whole blood and also the CD4+/CD8+ ratio. The entire process takes about 12 minutes from inserting the disc into the optical drive to obtaining the numbers and ratios.
G. Reagents Used
Streptavidin (Sigma, cat. # S-4762): Add de-ionized water to make a 5 mg/ml solution, aliquot and store at −30° C. To use, add Tris buffer for a final concentration of 1 mg/ml.
Positive control: CD45 (Sigma, Lot # 038H4892, cat # C7556). Store at 2–8° C.
Secondary capture antibody: Biotinylated anti-mouse IgG (raised in sheep, Vector laboratories, lot # L0602, Catalog # BA-9200) Stock solution 1.5 mg/ml made in distilled water. Working b-IgG solution 125 μg/ml in 0.1M PBS. Store at 2–8° C. May be kept at −30° C. for long term storage.
Aldehyde activated Dextran (Pierce, lot # 97111761, cat # 1856167). Stock solution stock solution 5 mg/ml in PBS, store at 2–8° C.
Primary capture antibody: CD4 (DAKO, cat # M0716), CD8 (DAKO, cat # M0707), CD2 (DAKO, cat # M720), CD45 (DAKO, cat # M0701), CD14 (DAKO, cat # M825), and CD3 (DAKO, cat # M7193). Store at 2–8° C.
Negative control: Mouse IgG1 (DAKO, cat # X0931). Store at 2–8° C.
Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS), pH 7.4 (Life Technologies/GIBCO BRL, cat. # 10010–023) or equivalent. Store at room temperature
Isopropyl alcohol, 90–100%
H. RBC Lysing Protocol
Ammonium Chloride Lysing Buffer
A 1× stock of ammonium chloride lysing buffer should be stored at 2 to 8° C. Comprised of 0.155M NH4Cl, 10 mM KHCO3, and 0.1 mM disodium EDTA; pH 7.3 to 7.4. Store at 2–8° C. Bring to room temperature prior to use.
Procedure
1. For every 100 μl of blood add 2 ml of lysing buffer. (It is preferable to do this procedure in a biohazard hood.)
2. Vortex and incubate for 15 minutes at room temperature.
3. Centrifuge the blood at 500×g for 5 minutes at room temperature, using the centrifuge in the biohazard hood.
4. Remove supernatant and wash cells with 2% FCS or FBS in PBS. Centrifuge cells.
5. Calculate the total amount of WBCs and make the final concentration of WBCs 10,000 cells/μl for sample injection.
Use Becton and Dickinson Vacutainer CPT (BD catalog # 362760 for 4 ml, #362761 for 8 ml) cell preparation tubes with sodium citrate. Do procedure in biohazard hood following all biohazard precautions. Steps:
Total cell counts per ul=number of cells in 25 small squares×(times) 100.
1 ml of Histopaque-1077 was placed in a 15 ml centrifuge tube and 1 ml of whole blood is gently layered over that. Then centrifuged at 400×g for 30 min at room temperature. The mixture was aspirated carefully with a pasture pipette and the opaque interface transferred to centrifuged tube. Then 10 ml of PBS was added to the centrifuge tube. The solution was then centrifuged at 250×g for 10 min. The supernatant was decanted and the cell pellet was resuspended in 10.0 ml PBS and spun at 250×g for 10 min. The cells were then washed one more time by resuspending the pellet in 10 ml PBS and spinning at 250×g. The final cell pellet was resuspended in 0.5 ml PBS.
A. Materials
1. Cold PBS/2% FBS, pH 7.4
2. PBS /0.5% BSA, pH 7.4
3. CD4 Positive Dynal Isolation Kit
4. Dynal MPC, Dynal mixer, Centrifuge, Polypropylene tubes
B. Procedure
Run a CBC and determine the number of beads per cell needed (4–10 beads/cell). Add 1 ml of cold PBS/2% FBS to desired amount of beads (1×107 beads/72 ul) and resuspend. Place tube in Dynal MPC for 30 seconds and pipette off the supernatant. Resuspend the washed beads to the original volume. Add the desired amount of beads to the cells. Incubate at 2–8° C. for 20 minutes in the Dynal mixer set to 11. Isolate the rosetted cells in the Dynal MPC for 2 minutes. Pipette off the supernatant. Wash the rosetted cells 4× in PBS/2% FBS. Resuspend the rosettes in 200–400 ul of PBS/2% FBS. Add 10 ul Detach-a-Bead per 100 ul cell suspension. Incubate at RT for 60 minutes in the Dynal mixer set to 11. Isolate the beads in the Dynal MPC for 2 minutes. Transfer and save the supernatant. Wash the beads 2–3 times in 500 ul PBS/2% FBS to obtain residual cells. Wash the collected cells in 400 ul PBS/0.5% BSA.
Run CBC to determine isolated cell concentration.
A. Disc Manufacturing Including Substrate Preparation and Chemistry Deposition
In this example, a transmissive disc substrate was cleaned with an air gun to remove dust. The disc was then mounted in the spin coater and rinsed twice with a steady stream of iso-propanol. Next, a polystyrene solution with 2% polystyrene dissolved in 310 ml of toluene and 65 ml of iso-propanol was evenly coated onto the disc.
For the streptavidin deposition, streptavidin stock solution was diluted to 1 mg/ml in PBS. Using manual pin deposition, approximately 1 ul of the streptavidin was deposited in each capture zone on the disc. The disc was incubated in a humidity chamber for 30 minutes. Then excess unbound streptavidin was rinsed off the capture zones with D. I. water and the disc was spun dried.
For the secondary antibody deposition, a fresh solution of activated dextran aldehyde (200 ug/ml in PBS) was combined with an equal volume of the Vector IgG (125 ug/ml in PBS). Using manual pin deposition, approximately 1 ul of the IgG+DCHO complex was deposited (layered on top of the streptavidin layer) in each capture zone on the disc. The disc was incubated in a humidity chamber for 60 minutes. Excess antibody was rinsed off with D. I. water and the disc was spun dry.
For the primary antibody, DAKO CD4 was diluted to 50 ug/ml in PBS, DAKO CD8 was diluted to 25 ug/ml in PBS, and DAKO CD45 was diluted to 145 ug/ml in PBS. Using the manual pin applicator, deposited approximately 1 ul of each primary antibody on top of the bound secondary antibodies. The disc was then incubated in a humidity chamber for 30 minutes. The excess unbound antibody was removed by washing the capture zones with PBS and the disc was spun dried.
B. Disc Assembly
The cover disc used was a clear disc with a Fraylock adhesive channel layer attached thereto. Stamped into the adhesive were 4 U-shaped channels that created the fluidic circuits. The cover was placed onto the transmissive disc substrate so that the fluid channels were over the capture zones. Next, to secure the discs together, they were passed through a disc press 8 times.
C. Disc Leak Check, Blocking
Each fluid channel was filled with StableGuard and incubated for 1 hour. During the incubation, the disc was spun in the spin coater for 5 minutes at 5000 rpm. After the spin, the disc channels were checked for leaks. Next, the StableGuard was aspirated out of the channels, and the disc was placed under vacuum in a vacuum chamber overnight. The next morning, the disc was placed in a vacuum pouch and stored at 4° C.
A. Preparing of Clinical Blood Samples Using CPT Tubes
3 mls of clinical EDTA blood samples (Nos. 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35) were poured into individual CPT tubes that had the sodium citrate removed. The tubes were centrifuged for 25 minutes at 1500×g, at room temperature. After centrifugation, the upper plasmas, within 0.5 cm of the opaque MNC layers, were aspirated off. The remaining opaque MNC layers were transferred to clean 15 ml tubes and 12 ml of PBS were added to each.
Washing
The cell suspensions were then centrifuged at 250×g for 10 minutes. The supernatants were then aspirated off, and the cells resuspended in 14 ml of PBS. The suspensions were centrifuged at 250×g for 10 minutes again. Aspirated off the supernatants and resuspended each cell pellet with 200–175 ul of PBS. The cell concentrations for each sample were determined by counting the cells with a hemocytometer. Adjusted the final cell concentrations to 30,000 cells/ul for each sample.
B. Comparing Optical Bio-disc CD4/CD8 Ratios to FACs CD4/CD8 Ratios
Discs (Nos. 27a, 27b, 27c, 27d, 27e, 27f & 28) were prepared similar to example 5, using 25 um adhesive channels.
Each sample was injected into each corresponding disc as shown below in Table 4. After 30 minutes, the disc was centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 5 minutes. Light micrographs were then taken of the cells captured on the chemistry zones and the cells were counted. Each clinical sample also had a FACs analysis performed. The results from this experiment are shown below in Table 4.
A. Disc Manufacturing Including Substrate Preparation and Chemistry Deposition
In this example, a transmissive disc substrate was cleaned with an air gun to remove dust. The disc was then mounted in the spin coater and rinsed twice with a steady stream of iso-propanol. Next, a polystyrene solution with 2% polystyrene dissolved in 310 ml of toluene and 65 mls of iso-propanol was evenly coated onto the disc.
For the secondary antibody deposition, a fresh solution of activated dextran aldehyde (200 ug/ml in PBS) was combined with an equal volume of the Vector IgG (125 ug/ml in PBS). Using manual pin deposition, approximately 1 ul of the IgG+DCHO complex was deposited in each capture zone on the disc. The disc was incubated in a humidity chamber for 60 minutes. Excess antibody was rinsed off with D. I. water and the disc was spun dry.
For the primary antibody, DAKO CD4 was diluted to 50 ug/ml in PBS, DAKO CD8 was diluted to 25 ug/ml in PBS, and DAKO CD45 was diluted to 145 ug/ml in PBS. Using the manual pin applicator, approximately 1 ul of each primary antibody was deposited on top of the absorbed secondary antibodies. Incubated in the humidity chamber for 30 minutes. Rinsed off the excess antibody with PBS and spun dry the disc.
B. Disc Assembly
The cover disc used was clear with a Fraylock adhesive channel layer attached thereto. Stamped into the adhesive were 4 U-shaped channels that created the fluidic circuits. The cover was placed onto the transmissive disc substrate so that the fluid channels were over the antibody zones. Next, to secure the discs together, they were passed through a disc press 8 times.
C. Disc Leak Check, Blocking
Each fluid channel was filled with StableGuard and incubated for 1 hour. During the incubation, the disc was spun in the spin coater for 5 minutes at 5000 rpm. After the spin, the disc channels were checked for leaks. Next, the StableGuard was aspirated out of the channels, and the disc was placed under vacuum in a vacuum chamber overnight. The next morning, the disc was placed in a vacuum pouch and stored at 4° C.
A. Preparing a Clinical Blood Sample Using Histopaque 1077
12 mls of blood (sample # 176) was drawn at 10:00 am into an EDTA tube. At 12:00 pm, 3 mls of blood was layered over 3 mls of Histopaque 1077 in 4×15 ml tubes. The tubes were centrifuged for 30 minutes at 400×g, at room temperature. After centrifugation, the upper plasma, within 0.5 cm of the opaque MNC layer, was aspirated off. The remaining opaque MNC layer was transferred to a clean 15 ml tube and 12 ml of PBS was added. Repeated this for the remaining 3 tubes.
Washing
The cell suspensions were then centrifuged at 250×g for 10 minutes. The supernatants were then aspirated off, and the cells resuspended in 14 ml of PBS. The suspensions were centrifuged at 250×g for 10 minutes again. Aspirated off the supernatants and resuspended each cell pellet with 175 ul of PBS. Then all 4 MNC suspensions were combined and the cell concentration determined by running a CBC with a Cell Dyne 1600 cell counter. The final volume was 650 ul with a concentration of 23.5K cells/ul. We then performed 6 serial dilutions to end up with concentrations ranging from 1000 cells/ul to 100,000 cells/ul, shown below in Table 5
B. Comparing CD4 Antibodies from DAKO and Serotec
Two discs (#338 & 339) with 6 channels each were made according to Example 7 using a 100 um adhesive layer. Another primary CD4 antibody from Serotec (50 ug/ml, cat# LN1298) was also used in this experiment.
We injected each channel of disc 338 with one serial dilution of sample 176. After 15 minutes, the disc was centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 5 minutes. Light micrographs were taken of the cells captured on the chemistry zones and the cells were counted using a cell counting software (Metamorph). Alternatively, the number of cells captured may be evaluated using an optical disc reader and accompanying software. This procedure was for disc 339. The counts of cells captured on the DAKO CD4 chemistry zones were compared to the cells captured on the Serotec CD4 chemistry zones. The data collected from this experiment is shown in Table 5.
A. Preparing Clinical Samples Using Ammonium Lysing Buffer
4 ml of 1× ammonium chloride lysing buffer was added to 200 uls of each ACD blood sample (Nos. 251, 252, 253, 254, 255 & 256). The samples were vortexed and incubated for 15 minutes at room temperature. Next, the samples were centrifuged at 500×g for 5 minutes at room temperature. Removed the supernatant, and washed the cells with 3 mls of 2% FBS in PBS. Centrifuged again. Removed the supernatant, and resuspended the cells in 100 uls of 2% FBS in PBS. The final concentrations were between 10,000–5,500 cells/ul.
B. Testing Discs with Lysed Blood Drawn in ACD Tubes
Six discs (#499, 500, 501, 502, 503, & 504) with 6 B-Rad channels each were made according to example 7 using a 100 um adhesive layer.
We injected 3 channel of disc 499 with sample 251. After 15 minutes, the disc was centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 5 minutes. Light micrographs were taken of the cells captured on the chemistry zones and the cells were counted using a cell counting software (Metamorph); results are shown below in Table 6. Alternatively, the number of cells captured may be evaluated using an optical disc reader and accompanying software. This procedure was repeated for each of the remaining 5 discs and 5 samples.
A. Preparing CD4 and CD8 Isolated Cell Populations
Prepared 12 ml of blood (sample # 269), by layering 3 ml of blood over 3 ml of Histopaque 1077 in 4×15 ml tubes, as in example 8. Ran a CBC and determine the isolated MNCs concentration was 25,000 cells/ul. Set aside 100 ul of the MNCs for the disc. Divided the remaining 500 ul of MNCs into equal volumes. Added 1 ml of cold PBS/2% FBS to 200 ul of CD4 and 200 ul of CD8 beads and resuspend the beads. Placed tubes in Dynal MPC for 30 seconds and pipetted off the supernatant. Resuspend the washed beads to the original volumes. Added the 200 ul of CD4 and CD8 beads to each corresponding tube of cells. Incubated at 2–8° C. for 20 minutes in the Dynal mixer set to 11. Isolated the rosetted cells in the Dynal MPC for 2 minutes. Pipetted off the supernatant. Wash the rosetted CD4 and CD8 cells 4× in PBS/2% FBS. Resuspend each set of cell rosettes in 200–400 ul of PBS/2% FBS. Added 15 ul of Detach-a-Bead per cell suspension. Incubated at RT for 60 minutes in the Dynal mixer set to 11. Isolated the CD4 and CD8 beads in the Dynal MPC for 2 minutes. Transfered and saved the supernatants. Washed the CD4 and CD8 beads 2–3 times in 500 uls PBS/2% FBS to obtain residual cells. Washed the collected cells in 400 ul PBS/0.5% BSA. Ran CBCs and determined the isolated cell concentrations. Recovered 360 uls of CD4 cells at 5000 cells/ul and 215 ul of CD8 cells at 5000 cells/ul.
B. Testing a Disc with CD4 and CD8 Isolated Cell Populations
One disc (#538) with 6 B-Rad channels was made according to example 7 using a 100 um adhesive layer.
We injected 1 channel each of disc 538, with the isolated MNCs, CD4 cells and CD8 cells from sample 269. After 15 minutes, the disc was centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 5 minutes. Light micrographs were taken of the cells captured on the chemistry zones and the cells were counted using a cell counting software (Metamorph). Results from this experiment is shown in Table 7 and illustrated in
Concluding Statements
Aspects of the present invention relating to the apparatus, methods, and processes disclosed herein are also presented in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/323,682 entitled “Methods for Reducing Non-Specific Binding of Cells on Optical Bio-Discs Utilizing Blocking Agents” filed Sep. 20, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/324,336 entitled “Methods for Reducing Bubbles in Fluidic Chambers Using Polyvinyl Alcohol and Related Techniques for Achieving Same in Optical Bio-Discs” filed Sep. 24, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/326,800 entitled “Sealing Methods for Containment of Hazardous Biological Materials within Optical Analysis Disc Assemblies” filed Oct. 3, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/328,246 entitled “Methods for Calculating Qualitative and Quantitative Ratios of Helper/Inducer-Suppressor/Cytotoxic T-Lymphocytes Using Optical Bio-Disc Platform” filed Oct. 10, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/386,072 entitled “Quantitative and Qualitative Methods for Characterizing Cancerous Blood Cells Including Leukemic Blood Samples Using Optical Bio-Disc Platform” filed Oct. 19, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/386,073 entitled “Methods for Quantitative and Qualitative Characterization of Cancerous Blood Cells Including Lymphoma Blood Samples Using Optical Bio-Disc Platform” filed Oct. 19, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/386,071 entitled “Methods for Specific Cell Capture by Off-Site Incubation of Primary Antibodies with Sample and Subsequent Capture by Surface-Bound Secondary Antibodies and Optical Bio-Disc Including Same” filed Oct. 26, 2001; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/344,977 entitled “Quantitative and Qualitative Methods for Cell Isolation and Typing Including Immunophenotyping” filed Nov. 7, 2001; and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/349,975 entitled “Methods for Reducing Non-Specific Binding of Cells on Optical Bio-Discs Utilizing Charged Matter Including Heparin, Plasma, or Poly-Lysine” filed Nov. 9, 2001, all of which are herein incorporated by reference.
All patents, provisional applications, patent applications, and other publications mentioned in this specification are incorporated herein in their entireties by reference.
While this invention has been described in detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments, it should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to those precise embodiments. Rather, in view of the present optical bio-disclosure that describes the current best mode for practicing the invention, many modifications and variations would present themselves to those of skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the following claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes, modifications, and variations coming within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be considered within their scope.
Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain, using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein. Such equivalents are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/988,728 filed Nov. 16, 2001. This application also claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. Nos. 60/349,392 filed Jan. 17, 2002; 60/349,449 filed Jan. 18, 2002; 60/355,644 filed Feb. 5, 2002; 60/358,479 filed Feb. 19, 2002; and 60/382,327 filed May 22, 2002. These applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.
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| Child | 10293214 | US |
