Flow Cytometry Core
116A VBS and E310 Beadle

Services are Available to the University Community and are Free of Charge through September 30, 2005

The Flow Cytometry Core is now fully functional and provides comprehensive data collection, data analysis, data interpretation and education in flow cytometry to researchers of the University of Nebraska.

What is Flow Cytometry
Flow Cytometry, typically using fluorescent probes which bind to specific cell associated molecules, allows measurements of various phenotypic, biochemical and molecular characteristics of individual cells (or particles) suspended in a fluid stream. As the cells flow past a focused laser beam, the probes fluoresce and the emitted light is collected and directed to appropriate detectors. These detectors, in turn, translate the light signals into electronic signals proportional to the amount of light collected. Signals are then converted to graphics for visual and digital analysis.

Services Available
The ability of flow cytometers to evaluate cells at an extremely rapid rate (e.g. up to 20,000 events per second) makes this technology ideally suited for the reliable and accurate quantitative analysis of selected physical properties of cells of interest. The sensitivity of these instruments for detecting the presence of molecules expressed at low levels is impressive; given high quality cell preparations and reagents, as few as 200 molecules per cell may be detected.

Who to Contact
Please contact Danielle Shea, (402) 472-4559, to schedule services one day in advance. The facility director, Dr. Charles Kuszynski, (402) 559-6299, is available by appointment for experimental design assistance and data interpretation.

A Shared Resource of UNL
Nebraska Center for Virology and the Center for Biotechnology