4.3.5 Aliquoting Sample Tubes

Aliquoting consists of removing the serum or plasma in small amounts (e.g.: 1.0 mL) by pipette and placing it into the appropriate color-coded cryovials (as outlined in cryovial specifications and the aliquoting schemes). Color-coding is predetermined and used to identify sample type such as EDTA plasma vs. Serum, etc.
This process must be done while the tubes and cryovials are on ice (unless otherwise noted).
When aliquoting serum and plasma from the centrifuged collection tube, be careful not to disturb the top of the cell layer with the pipette tip, as this will result in platelet, white cell and red cell contamination
Use a new pipette tip for each draw tube.
Once the sample is aliquoted, cryovials should be immediately frozen in an upright position at -70°C or colder or promptly placed on dry ice for quick freezing.

If any tubes are accidentally mixed during pipetting so that plasma is contaminated with red cells, they may be recentrifuged.

Aliquoting Scheme

Vial #	Draw Tube	Vial Size (mL)	Color	Sample Vol. (mL)
1	Serum	4.0	Clear	1.0
2	Serum	1.5	Red	.5
3	Serum	1.5	Red	.5
4	Serum	1.5	Red	.5
5	Serum	1.5	Red	.5
6	Serum	1.5	Red	.5
7	Serum	1.5	Red	.5
8	Serum	1.5	Red	.5
9	Serum	1.5	Red	.5
10	EDTA	1.5	Purple	.5
11	EDTA	1.5	Purple	.5
12	EDTA	1.5	Purple	.5
13	EDTA	1.5	Purple	.5
14	EDTA	1.5	Purple	.5
15	EDTA	1.5	Purple	.5
16	EDTA	1.5	Purple	.5
17	EDTA	1.5	Purple	.5
18	EDTA	1.5	Purple	.5
19	EDTA	1.5	Purple	.5
20	Packed Cells	10	White	5.0

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