Flow Cytometry Analysis

We are a small facility located in the -1 floor of the K-Wing in the Health Sciences Building at the University of Washington. The facility is open to any UW or UW-affiliate as well as any researchers in the area who need a flow cytometer but don't know where to go. We will be happy to assist you in all of your flow cytometric needs. At the center of our Flow Cytometry Facility is an Influx flow cytometer (a high-speed cell sorter by Cytopeia) used for sorting and general analysis. We also have a number of analysis programs that can be utilized to analyze your data after collection on the Influx. We have the capability of running many advanced flow cytometry applications; including DNA cell cycle analysis, calcium flux, chromosome separation, and multi-color immunophenotyping experiments. Any particle smaller than 70µm can be analyzed and/or sorted.

The Influx utilizes three lasers -- a UV-multiline argon, a 488nm argon, and a 638nm solid state Radius. Their unique configuration in the cytometer provides simple, independent focusing of each laser onto the analysis point. Because the lasers are collected through their own separate pinholes and thus travel to completely independent detectors, the Influx can analyze fluorophores with different excitation spectra but with similar emission spectra.

Another special feature of the Influx is its high-speed sorting capability. The Influx has the ability to create ~40,000 drops/second and, in theory, sort at this rate. The higher the concentration of your sample, the faster we can sort for you. At a concentration of 20 million cells/ml, we have been able to successfully sort ~10,000 particles/second. The Influx can also sort into or onto various tubes and trays. A stepper table allows for sorting into multi-well tissue culture plates. We have successfully sorted a single GFP-expressing cell into each well of a 96-well plate.

• Self-service access to instruments/equipment (with appropriate training)
• Access to technology services (i.e. microarray, specimen analysis)
• Consultations (i.e. study design, experiment design)