About us
The Longwood Medical Area CyTOF core provides high dimensional cell analysis for cellular phenotyping, phosphorylation, cytokine and receptor expression in a large variety of human and murine specimens focused in areas of systems biology, immunology, cancer research, autoimmunity, stem cell biology, drug delivery and more!
Our Resources
- CyTOF XT mass cytometer, featuring an auto-sampler and improved signal stability. Ability to measure over 40 available antibody channels simultaneously with minimal signal overlap
Mass cytometry couples highly sensitive ICP-TOF technology with flow cytometry-like high speed single cell analysis
How it works
Cells in suspension are fixed and stained metal-conjugated antibodies. These cells are individually introduced to the ICP (inductively coupled plasma) where they are atomized and ionized to form an ion cloud. Biological elements are filtered out before the ion cloud then passes through the TOF (time-of-flight) chamber where ions are separated by mass and counted. Data is exported into .fcs files for analysis.
Features
- Over 40 markers measured simultaneously (135 theoretical channels)
- Additional channels for cell identification and viability
- Sample barcoding to multiplex up to 20 samples in a single tube
- Minimal signal overlap (no compensation)
- Very low biological background contamination
- Run in 5mL polypropylene FACS tubes
- Sample aspiration rate of 30μL per minute
- Beads added to sample allows for data normalization
Antibodies
Antibodies are conjugated to non-rare, non-biological, non-radioactive isotopes, mostly within the lanthanide series. High isotopic purity combined with proper panel design helps ensure low signal overlap.