Volumetric mass density measurements of mesenchymal stem cells in suspension using a density meter

Christoph Drobek; Juliane Meyer; Robert Mau; Anne Wolff; Kirsten Peters; Hermann Seitz

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.105796

Volumetric mass density measurements of mesenchymal stem cells in suspension using a density meter

iScience. 2022 Dec 10;26(1):105796. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105796. eCollection 2023 Jan 20.

Authors

Christoph Drobek¹, Juliane Meyer², Robert Mau¹, Anne Wolff², Kirsten Peters^{2

3}, Hermann Seitz^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Chair of Microfluidics, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany.
² Department of Cell Biology, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany.
³ Department of Life, Light and Matter, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany.

Abstract

To use regeneratively active cells for cell therapeutic applications, the cells must be isolated from their resident tissues. Different isolation procedures subject these cells to varying degrees of mechanical strain, which can affect the yield of cell number and viability. Knowledge of cell volumetric mass density is important for experimental and numerical optimization of these procedures. Although methods for measuring cell volumetric mass density already exist, they either consume much time and cell material or require a special setup. Therefore, we developed a user-friendly method that is based on the use of readily available instrumentation. The newly developed method is predicated on the linear relationship between the volumetric mass density of the cell suspension and the volumetric mass density, number, and diameter of the cells in the suspension. We used this method to determine the volumetric mass density of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and compared it to results from the established density centrifugation.

Keywords: Biology experimental methods; Biophysics; Stem cells research.