The information below is provided to assist investigators in preparing grant applications, particularly the Equipment and Other Resources section. An electronic version of this content is available upon request. Please contact the Core Facility for additional details or updated language as needed.
Facility Overview
The UTMB Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Core Lab has been providing investigators with state-of-the-art flow cytometry instrumentation and support for over 20 years. The Flow Cytometry Core is available to all departments and investigators at UTMB. The Flow Cytometry Core is supported through recharge rates and additional support from the University. Currently, the Flow Cytometry Core is located in the Medical Research Building, where all of the facility instruments and staff are housed. The facility is currently managed by one full time employee. The staff provide a wide range of support to investigators including cell sorting, data acquisition, instrument training, data analysis, panel design, technical advice and experimental design. A variety of assays are performed regularly at the facility. These assays include high-parameter immunophenotyping, intracellular and intra-nuclear staining for cytokines and transcription factors, fluorescent protein expression, cell cycle and proliferation, apoptosis, growth factors and signaling. The facility currently houses a comprehensive suite of cell analysis and sorting instrumentation including one BD FACSAria Fusion, one Sony FP7000 Spectral Cell Sorter, one Sony MA900, one Sony SH800, one Sony ID7000 Spectral Cell Analyzer, one BD FACSymphony A5 SE, one BD LSRFortessa, one Bio-Rad Bio-Plex 200 system, one Bio-Rad Bio-Plex II wash station, one CTL Immunospot S6 M2, six Miltenyi MidiMACS Magnets, and one high-speed computer dedicated to data analysis.
The FACSAria Fusion is fully enclosed in a Class II Type A2 biosafety cabinet for agents that require BSL-2 safety precautions. The FACSAria Fusion cell sorter is a 4 laser, 15 fluorescent detector system capable of sorting cells into tubes, plates, or slides at high speed. The Sony FP7000 Spectral Cell Sorter is fully enclosed within a Class II biosafety cabinet, providing dedicated BSL-2 cell sorting capabilities while supporting advanced high-parameter spectral sorting for complex multicolor experiments. In addition, the Sony MA900 is fully enclosed within a Class II Type A2 biosafety cabinet located in the BSL-3 laboratory for agents requiring BSL-3 containment. The Sony MA900 cell sorter is a 4 laser, 12 fluorescent detector system. The Sony SH800 is a cell sorter with 2 lasers and 6 fluorescent detectors capable of sorting cells into tubes at high speed. There are a variety of downstream applications of cell sorting including DNA/RNA isolation, next-generation sequencing, functional assays, sterile cell culture, single-cell cloning, and injection back into an animal. The six Miltenyi MidiMACS magnets are available for rent and can be used for magnetic bead sorting and/or enrichment.
The Sony ID7000 is a high-parameter spectral flow cytometer that enables comprehensive immune phenotyping and complex multiparameter analyses through full-spectrum fluorescence detection and spectral unmixing. The FACSymphony A5 SE is a spectral instrument equipped with 5 lasers and 50 detectors. This system can analyze high-order spectral or conventional flow cytometry panels. The LSRFortessa is a 5 laser, 18 fluorescent detector instrument capable of analyzing high-end flow cytometry panels. The FACSymphony and LSRFortessa are both equipped with a high-throughput system (HTS), which allows investigators to run 96- or 384-well plates. The Bio-Rad Bio-Plex 200 is a bead-based multiplex system capable of analyzing over 100 analytes through various bead assays. The Bio-Rad Bio-Plex II wash station supports plate-based assays by automatically washing plates for a variety of applications. The CTL Immunospot S6 M2 enables investigators to read up to 6 fluorospots as well as enzymatic spots. The facility houses a high-speed computer for data analysis, complete with a FlowJo license, and provides cloud-based data storage for investigators. The facility also manages a site license for FlowJo data analysis software.