Ficoll

Ficoll is a neutral, highly branched, high-mass, hydrophilic polysaccharide which dissolves readily in aqueous solutions.

Note that some red blood cell trapping (presence of erythrocytes and granulocytes) may occur in the PBMC or Ficoll-Paque layer.

Ethylene diamine tetra-acetate (EDTA) and heparin are commonly used in conjunction with Ficoll-Paque(TM) to prevent clotting and is used as a mononuclear cell separator.

At one time, fairly early in the research for diabetes treatment by transplantation, Ficoll was used in an attempt to separate islets of Langerhans from enzyme (collagenase) digested human pancreatic tissue.

One such product is SepMate-50,[2] a specialized tube containing a porous insert that forms a physical barrier between the Ficoll-Paque and blood sample.