Different Types of Cell Disruption

• The activity of cell disruption refers to releasing biological molecules from inside a cell. This may be necessary for a variety of different reasons and within a variety of different industries. Cell disruption may play a starring role in the food industry, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, chemicals or biotechnology.

• Depending on a variety of different factors, including the sample size and the purpose of the disruption, one or more techniques may be used. Here are some of the more common methods of cell disruption used on a regular basis.

Lysis

• Lysis refers to a mild osmosis-based method of cell disruption that works to easily disrupt cells from insects or mammals that were grown in culture media. In many cases, by lowering the ionic strength of the media you will cause the cells to swell up and burst.

• When the cells start to become stronger and more difficult to break, such as bacteria, algae or yeast, an extra component might have to be added to make it all work effectively.  

Enzymatic Method

• The enzymatic method is a well-established way of removing cell walls to get ready for disruption or for the preparation of protoplasts. The enzymes used in this method are usually available commercially and were probably originally isolated from biological sources.  

• Some of the enzymes used for this method include:

• Lysostaphin• Lysozyme• Zymolase• Cellulase• Mutanolysin• Glycanases• Proteases• Mannase 

• On negative about enzymatic methods is that they aren’t always applicable to the large scale. Trying to use the enzymatic method on a large scale can be costly.

Bead Method

• Another laboratory mechanical cell disruption method uses small beads made from steel, ceramic, zirconium or glass, plus a high degree of agitation. This method is also called ‘beadbeating’ and it is effective for all different types of cellular material.

• Depending on the exact application, beadbeating may be performed in a basic test tube with a standard lab mixer, or in closed vials in special machines.

Sonication

• Sonication is a method that uses ultrasound to disrupt the cells, applying about 20 to 50 kHz to the cell sample. For this method to work, a metal probe is placed into the sample that contains the cells. Then, the probe oscillates back and forth at high frequency, disrupting the cells.

Solvent Use

• The solvent use method of cell disruption works well with biohazardous materials and is typically performed with sodium dodecyl sulfate. This method helps to extract the proteins both pathogenic and nonpathogenic material.

The 'Cell Bomb'

• The ‘cell bomb’ refers to rapid decompression of the cells as a different laboratory disruption test. The cells are placed under very high pressure with nitrogen or another inert gas. The pressure is built up to around 25,000 psi, then rapidly released.

 • The cell bomb only works effectively for cells that can be

easily disrupted. Things like yeast, fungi, spores and E.coli don’t work well with this method.