Centrifugal elutriation: Separation of spermatogenic cells on the basis of sedimentation velocity

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Abstract
Various types of cells from the testes of mice and hamsters were separated according to differences in sedimentation velocity by centrifugal elutriation, a counterflow centrifugation technique. Approximately 3 × 108 cells, prepared from six mouse testes or from one hamster testis, were separated into 11 fractions in less than two hours as compared to the 4–5 hours required for sedimentation at unit gravity (“Staput”). Fractions enriched in elongated spermatids and spermatozoa (100%), stages 1–8 spermatids (69%) and pachytene spermatocytes (58%) were obtained from mouse testis dispersions. Similarly enriched fractions were obtained from hamster cells. A single fraction enriched in stages 1–8 spermatids (mouse) was prepared in less than 30 minutes. As many as 2 × 109 cells were separated in a single procedure. Spermatogenic cells exhibited no evidence of structural damage with trypan blue and phase microscopy, and recovery was essentially 100%. Centrifugal elutriation had no effect on sperm motility or on the plating efficiency of CHO cells.