Models: Guava EasyCyte 8HT Analyser, Millipore; FACS Canto-II Analyser, Aria-III Cell Sorter, Becton Dickinson

Principle
Flow cytometry is a technology that simultaneously measures and analyzes multiple physical characteristics of single cells as they flow in a fluid stream through a beam of light. The properties measured include relative size, relative granularity or internal complexity and relative fluorescence intensity. These characteristics are determined using an optical-to-electronic coupling system that records how the cell or particle scatters incident laser light and emits fluorescence. Sorting allows us to capture and collect cells of interest for further analysis. Once collected, the cells can be analyzed microscopically, biochemically, and functionally. In addition to the multi-parameter analysis, a cell sorter can physically separate cells of interest from mixed populations. It can sort 4 different populations at the same time which can be collected into 15ml, 5 ml or 1.5 ml tubes. Single cells can also be collected in 384-well/96-well plates or on microscopic slides.

Applications
Immunophenotyping of cell populations for expression of specific markers
Gene expression studies
Analysis of cell viability and proliferation
Analysis of cell cycle by means of DNA-specific dyes allowing quantitation of cellular DNA content
Study of ion fluxes in response to specific stimuli
Selected sub-populations can be sorted for sub-cloning, co-cultivation and functionality analysis