Biotechnology Progress Paper Details Hidden Information in Cell Size Distributions

ORANGE COUNTY, CALIF. – In a paper published in the November/December 2010 issue of Biotechnology Progress (Vol. 26, No. 6) the authors use the large amounts of data generated by Beckman Coulter’s Multisizer COULTER COUNTER to infer significant and detailed information about cells infected with viruses. (Originally published online, Sept. 23, 2010 on the Biotechnology Progress “Early View” page by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers).

The paper, entitled “Getting More from Cell Size Distributions: Establishing More Accurate Biovolumes by Estimating Viable Cell Populations,” was written by Professor Marc Aucoin and his colleagues at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. The authors used sophisticated regression analyses to study the size distributions of insect cells before and after they were infected with viral vectors. The analyses helped the authors identify two regions of cell distribution that were highly correlated with cell viability at one, two and three-days post-infection.

“Many investigators have found the rich data produced by instruments in the Multisizer series invaluable for addressing questions related to cell size distribution,” said Matthew Rhyner, Ph.D., product manager with Beckman Coulter Particle Characterization. “As this work demonstrates, the detailed analysis enabled by the Multisizer shows the usefulness of studying the entire cell size distribution as opposed to focusing on mean cell diameters.”

“While the viability study is interesting and informative, it’s likely only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what information can be gained from analyzing full cell size distributions,” said Professor Aucoin, corresponding author of the study. “There’s a tremendous amount of data contained in each distribution, above and beyond simple mean diameters. Our group hopes to conduct similar studies in the future and see just how far we can push the approach.”

Elsa Burgess, director of Beckman Coulter Particle Characterization said, “We believe it’s important to use input from customers such as those at the University of Waterloo to improve and add to the data producing capabilities of the Multisizer, and the work of Professor Aucoin and his group clearly shows how scientists, and research in general, benefits from improvements that are made based on these interactions.“

About Beckman Coulter Particle Characterization

The Beckman Coulter Particle Characterization Business Center is based in Miami, Florida. The group develops, manufactures and markets products that are used to study, analyze and quantify particles of any type and serves customers from cell biologists to pharmaceutical companies to cement manufacturers. Serving particle customers since 1960, the group specializes in the Coulter Principle, laser diffraction, dynamic light scattering, zeta potential and BET analysis to understand all aspects of particulate samples. For more information, visit www.coultercounter.com.

About Beckman Coulter

Beckman Coulter, Inc., based in Orange County, California, develops, manufactures and markets products that simplify, automate and innovate complex biomedical tests. This year marks the company’s 75th anniversary of advancing healthcare. More than 200,000 Beckman Coulter systems operate in laboratories around the world, supplying critical information for improving patient health and reducing the cost of care. Recurring revenue, consisting of consumable supplies (including reagent test kits), service and operating-type lease payments, represents about 80 percent of the company’s 2009 revenue of $3.3 billion. For more information, visit www.beckmancoulter.com or www.beckmancoulter.com/75years.

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