Methods for separating cells from a sample (e.g., separating fetal red blood cells from maternal blood) include introducing a sample including cells into one or more microfluidic channels. In one embodiment, the device includes at least two processing steps. For example, a mixture of cells is introduced into a microfluidic channel that selectively allows the passage of a desired type of cell, and the population of cells enriched in the desired type is then introduced into a second microfluidic channel that allows the passage of the desired cell to produce a population of cells further enriched in the desired type. The selection of cells is based on a property of the cells in the mixture, for example, size, shape, deformability, surface characteristics (e.g., cell surface receptors or antigens and membrane permeability), or intracellular properties (e.g., expression of a particular enzyme).

The disclosure provides methods for detecting circulating endothelial cells (CECs) that mimic CTCs with respect to aspects of their immuno fluorescent staining and with respect to aspects of their morphological characteristics (CTC mimics). The present disclosure is based, in part, on the unexpected discovery that CTC mimics can be detected in non-enriched blood samples among CTC candidate cells. The present disclosure is further based, in part, on the discovery that CTC mimics can be detected in non-enriched blood samples by combining the detection of one or more immunofluorescent markers in the nucleated cells of a non-enriched blood sample with an assessment of the morphology of the nucleated cells.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for accurately predicting a cancer patient prognosis based on a count of desired cells for which expression of a leukocyte marker and an epithelial marker is hardly exhibited by detecting those cells. Provided is a method for diagnosing an overall survival prognosis for a patient suffering from cancer, the method including: a step of obtaining a concentrated solution containing desired cells by pre-treating a biological sample obtained from the patient; a step of optically detecting the concentrated cells; and a step of detecting the desired cells from the detected image, wherein an association is made with the overall survival prognosis diagnosis by counting the detected desired cells, and wherein the desired cells are cells confirmed by the existence of a cell nucleus and in which expression of a leukocyte marker and an epithelial marker is hardly exhibited.

The disclosure provides methods for detecting circular endothelial cells (CECs) in a non-enriched blood sample. The present disclosure is based, in part, on the unexpected discovery that CECs can be detected in non-enriched blood samples. The present disclosure is further based, in part, on the discovery that CECs can be detected in non-enriched blood samples by combining the detection of one or more immunofluorescent markers in the nucleated cells of a non-enriched blood sample with an assessment of the morphology of the nucleated cells. The present disclosure is further based, in part, on the discovery that CECs can be detected in non-enriched blood samples by comparing the immunofluorescent marker staining and morphological characteristics of CECs with the immunofluorescent marker staining and morphological characteristics of WBCs. The methods disclosed herein serve to classify human subject in myocardial infarction (MI) patients or healthy controls.

Provided herein am compositions and methods for characterizing and treating neurodegenerative disease. In particular, provided herein are compositions and methods for measuring T cell markers associated with Alzheimer's disease.

The disclosure provides methods for analyzing rare circulating cells (RCCs) at cellular and molecular level following their detection in non-enriched blood samples, methods of this disclosure serve as diagnostic methods for several disease conditions, including cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Methods of treating diseases selected from the group consisting of an autoimmune disease, a neurodegenerative disease, triple negative breast cancer, head and neck cancer and an infectious disease are disclosed. The method comprises administering agents that bind to CD45.

An ex vivo method of determining sensitivity of multiple myeloma cells obtained from a multiple myeloma patient to chemotherapeutic agents, and methods of specifically treating the patient with chemotherapeutic agents to which the multiple myeloma cells are sensitive.

The present invention relates to methods for labeling intracellular and extracellular targets of leukocytes, as well as to kits for performing said methods.

Techniques for identifying and enumerating candidate target cells within a biological fluid specimen are described. A digital image of the biological fluid specimen is received, and one or more candidate regions of pixels in the digital image are identified by identifying connected regions of pixels of a minimum intensity having a size between a minimum size and a maximum size and an aspect ratio that meets a threshold. For each candidate region of at least one of the one or more candidate region, whether the portion of the image corresponding to the candidate region includes more than a threshold number of intensity levels is determined. If the portion of the image corresponding to the candidate region includes more than the threshold number of intensity levels the portion of the image is continued to be treated as a candidate for classification.