As the use of NGS advances in clinical and applied spaces, the parallel processing of large numbers of single cells will be crucial. With the increasing demand for single-cell NGS analyses, several platforms have emerged based on microfluidics, such as droplet-based and multi-sample nanodispensing technologies. The ICELL8 systems enable high-throughput processing of hundreds of single cells in a heterogeneous population without the common microfluidic cell-size constraints or the imaging limitations of droplet-based systems, thereby reducing sample-handling artifacts.

A key benefit of ICELL8 technology is the use of imaging to visualize all 5,184 nanowells to differentiate between single-cell-containing wells and multi-cell-containing wells. Furthermore, the cell samples can be stained with cellular dyes and visualized with fluorescence filters. A second key advantage of ICELL8 technology is the use of nanowell-specific barcodes to allow the tracing of sequencing data back to the individual cells that were selected for analysis. Additionally, the dispensing units of ICELL8 systems use a large-bore nozzle, providing the flexibility of working with a wide range of cell sizes—even isolated nuclei and multinucleated cells.

Images of an adult cardiomyocyte isolated and dispensed into a single nanowell on the original ICELL8 Single-Cell System. Cells were stained with Hoechst and propidium iodide. Data kindly provided by Dr. Stefan Günther, Max Planck Institute.

A compact design for integrated imaging, dispensing, single-cell selection,

ICELL8 cx CELLSTUDIO v2.0 Software, the open-architecture software for the ICELL8 cx system, brings greater flexibility to the platform. Features include:

• An application manager and application editor, which allows researchers to easily design their own ICELL8 cx system dispense workflows using a software interface
• Preloaded Takara Bio validated applications, such as full-length transcriptome analysis and high-throughput TCR profiling
• Ability to select your own reagents and/or indexes, with a range of dispense volumes
• Ability to decide the order of those dispense steps—rearrange, delete, and add as needed
• Ability to configure the number of wells in your dispense pattern: from a 12 x 12 grid (144 nanowells) when starting your experimental design, up to a 72 x 72 grid that utilizes an entire ICELL8 cx chip when you're ready for high throughput
• A dispense-pause feature that allows users to resuspend samples or reagents that may settle quickly, improving the uniformity of cell distribution and increasing the number of single-cell wells present in the chip
• The option to import barcode identification files into your application, either from Takara Bio prevalidated chemistries or barcodes of your own design

A modular design with separate imaging and dispensing units.