Flow Cytometry Core
Gislaine Martins, PhD-Core Director
Patricia Lin - Main Core Manager
Gillian Hultin- Main Core Staff
Aparna Subramanian- RMI Satellite Core
Flow cytometry uses fluorescent probes targeted to specific cell-associated molecules to characterize the diversity in makeup and function of complex populations of cells. As individual cells flow through a detection chamber, lasers excite the fluorophors, and an array of detectors analyzes them. At up to tens of thousands of cells analyzed per second, flow cytometers can rapidly acquire enormous amounts of data about populations of cells. In this way, even very small populations of cells within large mixtures can be identified and analyzed. For example one can rapidly analyze CD4/CD8 expression in populations of lymphocytes, or identify small populations of stem cells in blood.
A fluorescence activated cell sorter can individually select cells with a defined phenotype and sort them into collection tubes for isolation of select populations of cells. Flow cytometry is widely used by immunologists, hematologists, and other investigators who work with complex mixtures of cells.
The flow cytometry facility located on the 4th floor of the Davis building is available to all members of the Cedars-Sinai research community. The flow cytometry facility at Cedars is staffed by a full time technician who is available to assist in running samples and for training in the use of the analyzers. Users are charged for the time spent working on the machines
