SiteCELL enables on-site PBMCs purification and cryopreservation for immune single cell profiling of diverse ancestries

This work reports on a new methodology that allows processing immune cells (PBMCs) from blood in challenging settings (clinical or remote rural areas) for downstream single cell sequencing. Thus, allowing the inclusion of underserved communities in population-level immune profiling projects and comprehensive cellular atlases. Current methodologies for PBMCs isolation and cryopreservation cannot be deployed in remote areas with limited infrastructure, leaving many populations from the global south absent from those initiatives. The methodology reported in this manuscript, which we call SiteCELL, circumvents those limitations and can be implemented with minimal equipment and without electricity.