Application of magnetic poly(styrene–glycidyl methacrylate) microspheres for immunomagnetic separation of bone marrow cells

Surface-functionalized magnetic poly(styrene–glycidyl methacrylate) (PS–GMA) microspheres were prepared and coupled with Sca-1 antibody for cell selection from murine bone marrow mononuclear cells (MNCs). Biotinylated Sca-1 antibody could be directly coupled to avidin-bound magnetic microspheres. Alternatively, oxidized goat anti-mouse antibody was covalently bound onto the amino group-containing magnetic microspheres in a site-directed manner, and the resultant conjugate was coupled with non-modified Sca-1 antibody. Using the indirect antibody-bound magnetic microspheres, the purity of isolated Sca-1+ cells increased with bead-to-cell ratio. Using a bead-to-cell ratio of 10 beads/cell, a purity of 85% Sca-1+ cells corresponding to a 17-fold enrichment was achieved.