Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting

Technological innovations will help to solve the biomedical puzzles

The Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Facility at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine has accumulated specific expertise on measurement and sorting of cells. This expertise builds on the skills gained with a wide variety of analyses and purifications, including immune cells, stem cells, sperm cells, chromosomes, bacteria, hybridoma’s for monoclonal antibody production, single cell sorting for cloning and/or PCR analysis, cell selection based on fluorescent reporter gene products and rare event purifications. We are trained to rethink seemingly impossible demands into successful experiments. The facility is in close contact with the manufacturers of the equipment and constantly involved in activities related to technical improvement of the equipment.

Services:

  • Education and hands-on training using flow cytometry for a variety of applications
  • Access to conventional and state-of-the-art flow cytometer and cell sorter instruments
  • Maintenance and instrument performance for time-effective and high-quality research
  • FACS specialist support for experimental design, sample acquisition and data analysis
  • Publication tracking and dissemination

Analyzers:

  • BD FACS Canto II analyzer equipped with 3 lasers (405 nm, 488 nm, 635 nm) for up to 10 fluorescent parameters.
  • BC CytoFLEX LX analyzer equipped with 6 lasers (375nm, 405 nm, 488 nm, 561 nm, 635 nm, 808 nm) for up to 21 fluorescent parameters.
  • CYTEK Aurora spectral analyzer equipped with 3 lasers (405 nm, 488 nm, 635 nm) for up to 24 fluorescent parameters.

Sorters:

  • BD Influx cell sorter equipped with 5 lasers (355nm, 405 nm, 457nm, 488 nm, 561 nm, 635 nm) for up to 21 fluorescent parameters. This jet-in-air system supports up to six-way sorting into a variety of tubes and plates.
  • BD FACSAria Fusion equipped with 4 lasers (405 nm, 488 nm, 561nm, 635 nm) for up to 14 fluorescent parameters. This system is a fixed alignment cuvette flow cell sorter that is incorporated in a biosafety cabinet and that supports a four-way sorting into tubes and plates.
  • High-sensitivity BD Influx for the detection and sorting of extracellular vesicles and nanoparticles. Under research and industry collaborations we have optimized this jet-in-air system with open-end architecture. This instrument is equipped with a high power 488 nm laser (200 mW) and 3 additional lasers (405 nm, 561 nm and 635 nm).  

Software analysis:

  • 3 workstations equipped with FlowJo are available at the facility.
  • A group license for the remote use of FlowJo Portal is also available upon request.

Users can reserve equipment via the website of the Centre for Flow cytometry.

Further details on equipment setups and novel developments are available at the facility.

How do I acknowledge the Flow Cytometry and Cell sorting Facility?

Formal presentations or publications containing data from work performed at our facility must be identified as such. We suggest the following statement:
We thank the Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Facility of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University for support.

Co-authorship can be discussed for extensive consultation on experimental design or data analysis.

For more information, research and collaborations, please contact Estefanía Lozano Andrés
For facility matters: dgk.cov.facs@uu.nl