To prepare samples for cell separation, the first thing you need to do is disrupt the extracellular matrix holding the cells together.This can be done using proteolytic enzymes or applying mechanical force. When using cell separation techniques that rely on labeling, it is crucial to create a single-cell suspension. Failure to dissociate cell clumps completely may result in inefficient labeling of the desired cells. 

It is equally important to ensure that the processing method does not alter the cell surface epitopes, as this could have adverse effects on both cell isolation as well as downstream functional analyses.