ISOLATING FETAL TROPHOBLASTS

摘要

Methods for isolating and purifying fetal trophoblasts from a mucus sample obtained from the uterine cavity of a pregnant female. The mucus sample is transported from a clinical collection facility to a laboratory in a transportation medium so the cells remain viable. The mucus sample is then subjected to precise processing steps, including treatment with mucolytic agents or mucinases, sugar hydrolysis enzymes, nucleases, and proteases to provide fetal cells, the outer surfaces of which are so essentially completely devoid of attached mucosal biological material that they are then isolated in greater numbers than previously had been possible. The isolated cells are in appropriate condition to immediately be effectively subjected to FISH or to other molecular diagnostics.