We have developed an automated robot that facilitates non-invasive isolation of a single cell with the most favorable properties from arrays containing >105 cells, thus allowing the establishment of new cell screening methods for bio-medicines. In this chapter, an outline of the proposed automated single-cell analysis and isolation system (hereafter called 'single-cell robot') is reviewed by comparison with a conventional fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS). The single-cell robot could perform high-throughput screening for both mammalian cells secreting the highest amount of bio-medicines (e.g. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells or hybridomas), and stem cells with the highest pluripotency (e.g., embryonic stem (ES) cells), from huge number of cell libraries based on the recently proposed concept of "single cell-based breeding". The rational screening method for the de novo agonist design could also be performed using yeast cells expressing functional mammalian cytokine receptors (e.g., epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), somatostatin G protein-coupled receptor (SSTR5), and interleukin 5 receptor (IL5R)). Furthermore, the single-cell robot could comprehensively analyze the reaction between olfactory sensory neurons and specific odorants, which will shed light on how odorants are recognized by olfactory receptors. Taken together, these unique features of the proposed single-cell robot will contribute to the high-throughput development of forthcoming bio-medicines.
Keywords: CHO cells; ES cells; High-throughput screening; Hybridomas; Olfactory sensory neurons; Single cell-based breeding; Time-lapse single-cell array cytometry; Yeast cells.