The Central Unit for Research and Medicine’s cell culture and cytometry section is a laboratory aimed at developing a set of techniques allowing for cataloguing, maintenance and study of “in-vitro” cells, as well as the cryopreservation of cell lines. The section features 3 work areas:
- Cell cultures
- Flow cytometry
- Cryopreservation
Flow cytometry is a technique that allows measuring and obtaining information on the optical characteristics of cells or suspension particles upon being subjected to a strong laser light source.
This measure is applied to each individual particle based on forward light dispersion (forward scatter), which is related to cell size; and side 90-degree dispersion (side scatter), related to the internal structure & cytoplasmic complexity and fluorescence emission of laser-illuminated particles.
Flow cytometry allows us to study the phenotypical characteristics of cell populations (immunophenotyping) by using fluorescent monoclonal antibodies and functional characteristics by using different available fluorescent probes.
Flow cytometry is a fast system that analyses thousands of cells per minute, and it’s multiparametric, as it enables the analysis of different cellular parameters simultaneously.
The section’s goal is to give scientific and technical advice to internal as well as external users. To that end, it has different flow cytometer analysers at its disposal, as well as separators and an image cytometer system, microscopes, flow cabins, CO2 incubators with various O2 percentages and a sample cryopreservation room.
