Cytek Aurora Spectral Analyser: essential investment to expand the Babraham Institute Flow Cytometry capabilities, enabling pioneering bioscience

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The field of flow cytometry is essential in many areas of life science research, such as immunology, haematology, cell biology and cancer studies. At BI, we study healthy ageing and Flow Cytometry is an essential tool to do this. The Flow Cytometry Core Facility is a busy, successful facility housing state of the art cytometers that are supported by dedicated and experienced staff. The Flow Cytometry Core prides itself on providing excellent service to BI scientists (over 100 use the facility) and 17 bio-tech companies who are based at Babraham Research Campus. It is important that the equipment within the Flow Cytometry Facility is state-of-the-art to facilitate the pioneering science carried out by BI Scientists. There have been huge advances in the technology behind the flow cytometry instruments and the fluorochromes that are measured on the instruments and therefore it is important that BI Flow Cytometry Facility keeps up to date with these technology changes. One of the biggest recent changes in technology has been the introduction of spectral analysers. This equipment grant is for a Cytek Bioscience 5-laser Aurora Spectral Analyser to be housed within the BI Flow Cytometry Facility. The Cytek Bioscience Aurora Spectral Analyser (hereafter 'Aurora'), a new spectral analyser which looks at the spectra of fluorochromes across each of its 5 lasers. This technology has been used in the field of microscopy for years but is new to flow cytometry. The analysers currently within the Core can theoretically measure 27 fluorescent markers, however it is difficult to combine more than 20 markers together due to the lack of unique commercially available dyes and the challenges of using a number of markers in combination. The Aurora allows up to 50 fluorescent parameters to be used including combinations of dyes that are impossible in conventional flow cytometry. This means that fluorochromes with similar excitation and emission maximums can be used together in experiments. This ultimately enables scientists to look at more markers from a sample, allowing them to study individual cells in more detail, reducing the size of samples needed for analysis. Another challenge when studying cells using flow cytometry can be strong cellular autofluorescence which means it can be difficult to measure and quantify dim fluorescent markers. The Aurora measures autofluorescence as a separate parameter. Autofluorescence can then be subtracted from the fluorescence allowing scientists to detect and quantify dim fluorescent signals. Increasing the multicolour capabilities of the BI Flow Cytometry Core Facility is essential to continue the BI world-class science. The addition of an Aurora will strengthen the capabilities of the Flow Cytometry Core Facility, which will in turn help BI scientists with their bioscience research into lifelong health and wellbeing, particularly in the areas of ageing cell immunology and regenerative medicine. Cutting-edge flow cytometry capabilities also boost our connections with Babraham Research Campus and other scientists and maximises the value of the invested equipment funding.