Typically picoliter droplets are required to encapsulate cells. Is there a defined volume of droplet size required based on the size of the cell of interest to encapsulate single cell in the droplet?
Hi,
Most of the drop-seq machines have a cell-size limitation of 25 um in diameter (more or less round cells can be used anyway). As I remember, most of the companies, such as 10x, Dolomite Nadia, and other variations of the initial EZ Macosco protocol use the 100 um nozzle for droplet generation. Though there are also solutions to develop custom droplet generators, for example, from Dolomite microfluidics. Anyway, the lower reaction volume is usually associated with the higher efficiency of cell lysis with subsequent RT.
Best,
Michail
Michail Yekelchyk - Thank you for your quick response. Is it challenging (repeatability, monodispersity, Marangoni effects) in reducing the droplet volume below the offerings from the companies you mentioned?
Well, I personally used only the default protocols, but as you can see on the machine at the link below, it is capable of making highly monodisperse droplets in the volume range from 1 to 500 pl and diameter from 10 to 100 um. As I assume, the monodispersity mainly depends on the quality of the microfluidics, pumps and chemicals.
https://www.dolomite-bio.com/product/μencapsulator-system/
Best,
Michail