What is a Flow Cytometry Core?

This video is a detailed explanation of flow cytometry by Cheryl Kim, the senior director of the Flow Cytometry Core at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI).
Flow cytometry measures physical and chemical characteristics of cells by using lasers and optics to detect signals from cells flowing in a fluid stream. It allows high-throughput analysis of millions of cells per hour.
LJI heavily invests in the latest flow cytometry technology, collaborating with major companies like BD Biosciences and Cytec Biosciences. They have acquired early access units and provided feedback to improve the technology.
LJI has state-of-the-art cell sorters like the S6, which can detect up to 28 colors simultaneously, and the Aurora cell sorter. Cell sorting allows physically separating specific cell populations from samples for further analysis like RNA sequencing.
Flow cytometry is crucial for immunology research at LJI, as it enables characterizing and identifying rare immune cell types involved in disease responses, like T cells, B cells, and others. Every lab at LJI utilizes our Flow Cytometry Core to study a multitude of diseases, including cancer, immune responses, and more.
The process involves labeling cells with fluorescent antibodies specific to surface proteins, then detecting and analyzing the fluorescent signals to identify and study the function of different cell types in disease models or tissue samples.
Learn more about LJI's flow core in the Spring 2024 issue of Immune Matters - mag.lji.org/spring-2024/the-w...