Flow Cytometry

Flow cytometry
Flow cytometry is a technique for analyzing cells. This allows researchers to obtain very specific information regarding the chemical and physical characteristics of cells.

Flow cytometry is a technique employed to analyze cells in a solution allowing researchers to obtain very specific information regarding the chemical and physical characteristics of cells, such as their size, count, cycle, etc. The solution is quickly passed through a laser at a rate of about 10,000 cells every second. The flourescently colored cell components are excited by the laser causing them to emit varying wavelengths of light which can be measured to identify structures in the cell.

Flow cytometry instruments are made up of three systems; fluidics, optics, and electronics. The fluidics is the solution responsible for transporting the cells to the laser beam. Cells must be between 0.2 and 150 μmsin order to be analyzed by the laser. Cells from plant, animals, yeast, bacteria, algae can all be anaylzed using flow cytometry, though some require disaggregation first. The optics are the lasers used to excite and illuminate the particles in the fluidics. The optics also includes lenses that are precisely positioned. The electronics are the instruments used to transform the light signals into electronic impulses so they can be processed by a computer.

Flow cytometry is a powerful analytical tool that can be used for:

  • cell counting and sorting
  • protein expression
  • RNA
  • cell health
  • cell viability
  • phenotyping
  • detecting biomarkers
  • diagnosing blood diseases
  • protein engineering

If you are in need of a laboratory to perform flow cytometry, contact us today at 1-855-377-6821 or online! The following are test request we’ve received for flow cytometry testing:

  • GLP Laboratory Consultant needed for GLP audit of laboratory that performs flow cytometry on who human blood, purifying human lymphocytes, and cultivating/assaying the function of human lymphocytes.
  • Bioanalytical laboratory needed for flow cytometry for characterization of white blood cell separation filter. Need a laboratory that is capable of doing white blood cells counting. e.g: Flow cytometry counters such as ADVIA 2120 for Basophil method.
  • Bioanalytical Laboratory needed for cell viability (MTT), cell proliferation studies (flow cytometry to characterize CD) and self-renewal studies including tagging of stromal vacular factor (SVF) cells using superparamagnetic iron oxides (SPION) and characterize the tagging using colorimetric assays such as Prussian blue staining. In addition,cell viability, studies (MTT), self-renewal studies (flow cytometry to characterize CD) and cell proliferation studies are needed after the tagging has been performed.
  • Bioanalytical laboratory needed for bioanalysis on Stromal Vascular Fraction cells isolated from adipose tissue including Residual collagenase activity (colorimetric assay kit available) Bioanalytical laboratory needed for (CD31/Cd34/CD45) Endotoxin testing Colony forming unit- fibroblast (CFU-F) assay
  • Preclinical Contract Research Organization need to Construct 2 plasmids, transfect primary cells in vitro, measure telomere lengths.
  • US Bioanalytical Laboratory needed: laboratory needed to conduct VASP platelet aggregation testing in the US.
  • More requests