Most antibodies cannot cross the intact cell membrane of a live cell and thus antibodies attach themselves to the proteins bearing their target antigen present on the outer membrane. However, as cells die, their cell membrane is disrupted and becomes permeable. This can cause fluorophore labeled antibodies to bind specifically and nonspecifically to the dead […]
Our immune systems are in a constant battle with the thousands of pathogens that we encounter every day. Immune cells have established versatile tactics to defend against intruders. One mechanism in particular has intrigued researchers due to the invaluable implications it retains. Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) is a mechanism utilized by the immune system as […]
Antibodies, also known as Immunoglobulins or Igs, consist of two heavy and two light chains. The antigen binding part of the antibody (shown in purple, Figure 1), is the variable region and capable of recognizing a specific antigen out of millions of possible antigens. The remaining sequence of the antibody is relatively conserved, and termed […]
Flow Contract Site Laboratory (FCSL) is a flow cytometry based Contract Research Organization (CRO) that develops assays based on client wants and needs. We have an expert team of scientists to help you answer your flow cytometry questions, such as: how best to detect the cell populations of interest to generate high quality data. We […]
Conventional Flow Cytometry has been limited in the use of fluorophores due primarily to spectral overlap of emission signals. Spectral Flow Cytometry captures the full emission spectrum of the fluorophores, creating Spectral Signatures for each fluorophore and significantly lessening the spectral overlap problem enabling 40+ marker analysis while maintaining high signal resolution. Conventional Flow Cytometers […]
Flow Cytometry is best known for its use in the research or clinical setting to monitor disease and treatment progression, and to study immune system interactions. However, flow cytometry is also a vital tool used by the pharmaceutical industry for drug development, clinical trials, and biologics manufacturing. As new treatments are developed for old and […]
The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) is a nonprofit organization that develops and publishes standards that are accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and are referenced in government regulations and international standards. As a volunteer-driven, membership-supported organization, CLSI promotes documents on a variety of specialty areas, from laboratory basics to quality management […]
Dendritic cells (DC) are specialized antigen-presenting cells and key mediators of immunity and tolerance. DC bridge the innate and adaptive immune systems. As innate immune cells, DC recognize and respond to pathogen associated molecular Patterns (PAMPS) and damage/ danger associated molecular patterns (DAMPS) through toll-like receptors (TLR). The role of DC in adaptive immunity is […]
Balancing rapidly evolving technology with financial reality or in other words “please don’t tell me my big fancy machine is obsolete.” As a general question, applicable to many situations in our current lives: what do we do when technology evolves so quickly that our expensive gadgets become obsolete (even though they still work), and the […]
T cell exhaustion is a state of dysfunction that arises during chronic infection and cancer. When exposed to persistent antigen and/or inflammatory conditions, T cell function falters and declines to the eventual state of exhaustion. T cell exhaustion was first described for CD8+ T cells and most studies have focused specifically on CD8+ T cells, […]