Due to the complexities with immunization, isolation of B-cells from blood, plating of viable single-cells, and sequencing of antibody antigen-binding regions, therapeutic antibody discovery is not without its challenges. The antibody-drug discovery process differs from the traditional drug discovery of small molecules as it requires the development of hybridomas and the engineering of antibodies to recognize a specific target protein.
The production of recombinant antibodies in cancer treatment as well as the development of neutralizing antibodies for infectious diseases, has allowed antibody discovery platforms to interrogate the immune repertoire and develop novel antibody libraries using flow cytometry analysis and cell sorting. The WOLF® cell sorter provides a simple cell sorting solution that gently sorts high antibody-producing clones and dispenses single-cells for optimal clone outgrowth.
What Customers Say
Read firsthand accounts of how our cell sorting solutions are transforming scientific discoveries.
Right now, the best technology out there for [single stem cell cloning] is the WOLF.
Pluristyx
Single cell clonal outgrowth is “hovering at 45% with the WOLF, whereas with [a droplet based cell sorter] we maxed out at about 35%".
Large Pharma Scientist
The WOLF is easier for a non-crazy engineer to understand and use.
Mt. Sinai
WOLF Benefits
Efficient Antibody Screening by Sorting into a 96- or 384-well Plate
Antibody drug discovery and the development of functional antibodies require sorting sensitive cells into multi-well plates for clonal outgrowth. A simple and gentle cell sorting solution in the lab is key to an efficient antibody screening process.
Simple Sorting Workflow Improves User Efficiency
Even for flow cytometry beginners, the WOLF has an intuitive and basic software workflow. It takes a day of training before novice users are up and running in their own lab.
Gentle Cell Sorting Leads to High Clonal Outgrowth
Compared to traditional droplet-based cell sorters running under high-pressure, the WOLF provides an alternative sorting method where cells do not undergo a decompression shock before being deposited in the well.
Compact, Benchtop Cell Sorting in the Lab
Many laboratories do not have space for a large, conventional cell sorter. Save on space by implementing the WOLF into a cell line development workflow, at only 2 cubic feet. The compact design fits in biosafety cabinet for sterile cell sorting.
Eliminate Carryover and Instrument Contamination through Disposable Microfluidic Cartridges
The simplest way to ensure no cross-contamination between cell lines is to replace the entire system fluidics at once with a new disposable cartridge. No instrument clean-up required.
As Fast as 9 Minutes for a 96-well Plate and 33 Minutes for a 384-well Plate
The WOLF instrument setup is rapid and automated. When followed by a gentle sort and no lengthy instrument clean up, the overall process is simple and straightforward.
Antibody Discovery from Single Bovine B-Cells
Bovine immunoglobulins have great potential for development as clinical treatments and research tools targeting a broad variety of antigens. Bovine antibody structures slightly differ from their human equivalent and provide opportunities to identify antibodies with unique specificities and obtain the antibody sequence of their light chains. When compared with the BD FACSAria, sorting B cells with the WOLF cell sorter resulted in twice as many single-cells with detectable OneStep RT-PCR product, and 41% more single-cells were sequenced for both heavy and light chains. The WOLF cell sorter optimizes the selection process of antibody candidates and speeds up the recombinant antibody development all the way to antibody production.
In recent years, scientists have used CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) cells to develop high titer antibody-producing cell lines. Traditionally, scientists have used limiting dilution to develop clones, which is inefficient, time-consuming and wastes tissue culture materials due to empty wells. The utilization of the WOLF cell sorter in combination with the N1 single-cell dispenser helps identify cells with high levels of antibodies at the cell surface and deposit them into a 96- or 384-well plate with 90% efficiency. The WOLF has been successfully used by Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations to develop CHO cell lines with high antibody titers and then rapidly move high producing clones into functional antibody characterization.
Recombinant protein production in CHO Cells
To produce therapeutic and recombinant proteins, the most widely used mammalian expression system in industrial production is CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) cells with DHFR-mediated gene amplification. Following standard molecular biology plasmid construction methods and stable transfection of cells, the expression of a recombinant protein becomes stable. The next step requires sorting single-cells to establish recombinant protein producing clones. With traditional cytometers, the number of CHO cell colonies is low due to cell death with high-pressure cell sorting systems. With low-pressure cell sorting, the WOLF improves single-cell deposition efficiency results by 95% and increases clonal outgrowth.
