Laser Microdissection for highest sample integrity: MMI CellCut

With over 20 years of experience in laser microdissection, we at Molecular Machines & Industries make the difference. Our team of passionate researchers have developed the most precise laser microdissection system on the market. The gentle cutting guarantees a homogeneous cell population for meaningful downstream analysis.

The contamination-free cutting with full visual inspection at any step during and after isolation enables outstanding single cell cutting performance.

The MMI CellCut is highly modular and can be mounted on numerous brands of microscopes, from entry-level, mid-range to high-end instrumentation, suitable for routine applications as well as most complex research projects.

The most gentle microdissection

Isolate your sample without any degradation and ensure meaningful downstream analyses in genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, lipidomics and metabolomics. The cleanest laser microdissection on the market is enabled by the maintenance-free MMI laser. The low pulse energy laser (less than 500 ps) creates a very precise cutting edge (up to 0.3 µm) and therefore protects the surrounding area and biological information (RNA, DNA, Proteins).   

Move the stage and your laser is always in focus

By moving the stage and not the laser we ensure that the laser beam is always in focus. Other laser microdissection systems which move the laser can only cut samples in the field of view – leading to inaccurate cutting results.

• Most accurate and precise cutting system on the market
• No sample degradation for meaningful downstream applications

Microdissection for almost any type of sample

With the MMI CellCut, you can dissect fresh frozen tissue, FFPE material, plant tissue, living cells, smears, cytospins and more.

 

Thick tissue is no problem

Do you need to cut thick or wet tissue? No problem! The “Z-drill feature” allows to refocus the laser on different z-levels. Therefore, you minimise the use of excessive laser power and so preserve your sample and maximize its usability for downstream analysis. An alternative high-power laser is available to cut very hard materials such as teeth, bones or forensic tapes.

 

Size does not matter

Dissect single cells or huge tissue areas – even beyond the field of vision. The precise laser is fixed while the stage is moving during laser cutting, thus the laser will always be in perfect focus, even with larger tissue areas.

Live cell cutting without removing culture media

Isolate living cells to obtain a homogeneous live-cell population. In contrast to systems, that use upright microscopes, our laser comes from below. Therefore, you can dissect living cells without removing culture media to ensure highest cell integrity for meaningful -omics applications and re-cultivation.

 

Attach a climate chamber
You can equip the MMI CellCut with a climate chamber with full environmental control

• Gentle living microdissection for meaningful downstream applications
• Attach a climate chamber to the LMD system
• Grow living cells on petri dishes with PEN membrane or multi-well ibidi slide

Customize your microdissection

Customization is key for your research! The MMI CellCut is compatible with almost all microscopes and objective lenses – perfect for unique applications.

You can integrate our laser microdissection system on a confocal microscope, or you can combine it with Raman spectroscopy. For live cell applications, you can also integrate the system into an incubation hood.

Furthermore, the CellCut is compatible with all MMI single cell solutions (MMI CellScan, MMI CellEctor, MMI CellDetector and MMI CellManipulator)

• You can use almost all inverted/confocal microscopes and objective lenses
• Compatible with all other MMI Single Cell solutions

Membrane Slides

• PET Membrane Slides (RNAse free version available)
• PPS Membrane Slides for lower autofluorescence
• Fluoro Membrane Slides for ultra-low autofluorescence
• Support Slide to support the transfer from a cryo section to a Membrane Slide

Membrane Slides for live cell laser microdissection

• 18-well Membrane Slide
• LiveCell Chamber

Tubes for contamination-free collection

• Different sizes (single tubes or strips)
• Diffuser caps for stained samples
• Transparent caps for fluorescent samples

Typically, laser capture microdissection systems are based on research microscopes. Lasers are required to precisely cut tissue on this microscopic scale, and they are coupled into the optical paths of the dissection microscopes. For cutting, the sample is mounted on membrane slides to enable both for precise cutting and for subsequent cell isolation procedures.

The laser microdissection microscopes on the market today mainly differ in the laser types they use and how the laser is applied to cut the sample. The MMI CellCut uses a low-damage laser with low power but high pulse frequency to allow for efficient and precise cutting and to not compromise tissue integrity. Moreover, the laser is fixed during the cutting process to ensure that the laser is always in focus and the sample is efficiently cut.

Importantly, the laser dissection microscopes differ in the particular method to isolate target cells after cutting. MMI for example isolates cut tissue by employing adhesive isolation caps, which gently and reliably take up the sample of any size and shape.

The laser capture microdissection technology has improved over the last year to make the cutting process more reliable and more precise. Thus, also single and rare cells can be excised from tissue sections, living cells or smears and swabs.

Interestingly, the MMI CellCut microdissection microscope is highly optimized to specifically cut single cells. The low-damage laser allows to cut single target cells without impairing their DNA or RNA quality, or the integrity of living cells. To be able to cut single living cells, MMI also offers a range of dedicated consumables. Thus, physiological conditions and contamination-free handling is supported throughout the experiment.

Intriguingly, the patented adhesive cap technology used by the MMI CellCut allows to keep the tissue in position during cutting. Thus, excised tissue cannot drop off because of airflow or static forces, a phenomenon that often occurs with dry sample of very small sizes such as single cells. Moreover, the different objectives and fluorescence filters implemented in the laser dissection microscope can be combined and optimally employed to identify and select single target cells. Image analysis tools integrated into the MMI CellTools software package allow to find even very rare cells in the sample