A Simple Single Cell Deposition System
Justin Beall, Mark Cozens, Frank Battye
The Walter & Eliza Hall Institute
A $100 cell deposition system has been built to allow sorting of single cells from a FACS II into multi- well culture plates. The system consists of:
- A hydropneumatically driven X-Y translation table controlled by solenoid valves.
- An electronic device to control the opening sequence of the valves, to detect alignment with a particular culture well and to signal the FACS II when the plate is positioned.
- Minor changes to the FACS II electronics to enable sorting of only one cell after each triggering.
Two important features of this system are its economical manufacture; all components are inexpensive and readily available, and its wide applicability; the well alignment sequence is controlled by optical sensing of the well positions on a dummy plate so that any spacing or pattern of wells can easily be accommodated. The device can be run in semi-automatic mode, where each sequential well is manually selected prior to automatic sorting of one cell, or full automatic mode where a feedback signal from the FACS II requests the device to seek a new well after each sort event.