Flow Lab Grant Summary Description

The Flow Cytometry Facility occupies approximately 300 square feet and is a fully equipped high speed cell sorting and cell analyzing research laboratory. The Becton-Dickinson FACSAriaII (special order) high-speed cell sorter, features five air cooled lasers (UV 355nm , violet 405nm, blue 488nm, yellow-green 561nm, and red 640nm), multicolor analysis up to 10 parameters and four way sorting. Additionally, the instrument is equipped with an Automated Cell Disposition Unit (ACDU) module which allows for single- or multiple- cell sorting into several different plate configurations and housed in a Baker Bio Protect-II bio-safety cabinet, which enables sorting of BSL-2 level samples.  The Becton-Dickinson FACSCalibur benchtop flow cytometer features two lasers (blue 488nm and red 635nm) with four color capability.  The Accuri C6 bench top trained user operated flow cytometer features two lasers (blue 488nm and red 649nm) with four color capability. Luminex-BioPlex Array Reader enables multiplexing of up to 100 analytes in a single microplate well, using very small sample volumes, on many assay formats including nucleic acid assays, receptor-ligand assays, immunoassays and enzymatic assays. The Flow Cytometry Facility has FCS Express software available to users for analysis at no cost to them.  The laboratory has a full time experienced operator who assists researchers in the development of protocols, instruction of flow cytometric techniques, and oversees daily operation of the facility.