MoFlo High Speed Multilaser Flow Cytometer/Cell Sorter

描述（申请人提供）：流式细胞术已成为基础研究、临床转化研究和临床研究等领域的关键研究工具。现在有大量的试剂可用于鉴定特定的细胞亚群，研究调节细胞增殖、凋亡、信号转导途径和细胞功能状态的分子。此外，荧光染料和标记技术现在可以同时检测单个细胞中的许多这些分子和标记物。这导致需要越来越复杂的细胞分析来了解这些分子在细胞水平上的作用和相互作用。西北大学Robert H. Lurie综合癌症中心的流式细胞仪核心设备为超过59名研究人员提供服务，国家同行评审基金为22,631,071美元。该设施与用户群有着密切、积极的互动，促进了所有研究人员实施更困难的流式细胞术分析，无论他们的专业水平如何。加上可用试剂的增加，对该设施的要求越来越复杂。目前，该设施拥有一台台式分析仪，一台Beckman-Coulter XLMLC四色仪器和一台使用六年多的Beckman-Coulter ELITE ESP细胞分选仪。目前的细胞分选机在复杂、多激光和高速分选应用领域具有明显的局限性。流式细胞仪核心设备满足当前和未来用户群需求的关键是开发更复杂、更精密的多参数和高速分选功能。所要求的MoFlo（TM）仪器将促进这一关键的发展。这一发展将得益于MoFlo增强的多激光能力（三个独立的激光探测点，所有荧光探测器的聚焦/针孔收集）和高速分选能力（25000 - 50000个细胞/秒，是现有仪器能力的10-15倍）。此外，由拥有超过23年研究和临床流式细胞术经验的Charles Goolsby博士和拥有超过12年流式细胞术经验的Mary Paniagua MT(ASCP)SI监督的设施确保了这些增强能力的有效实施。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Flow cytometry has become a key and critical research tool with applications in a wide range of disciplines in basic research, clinical translational research, and clinical studies. A wealth of reagents to identify specific cell sub-population, to study molecules regulating cell proliferation, apoptosis, signal transduction pathways, and functional states in cells are now available. Further, the fluorescent dyes and labeling techniques are now available to permit the simultaneous detection of many of these molecules and markers in individual cells. This is leading to the need for increasingly complex cytometric assays to understand the role and interaction of these molecules at the cell level. The Flow Cytometry Core Facility of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University serves over 59 investigators with national peer reviewed funding of $22,631,071. This facility has a strong history of close, active interaction with its user base facilitating implementation of more difficult flow cytometry assays by all investigators regardless of their level of expertise. This coupled with the increase in available reagents has fostered increasingly complex requests of the facility. At present, the facility has a bench top analyzer, a Beckman-Coulter XLMLC four color instrument and a Beckman-Coulter ELITE ESP cell sorter which is over six years old. The current cell sorter has distinct limitations in the areas of complex, multi-laser and high speed sorting applications. Key for the Flow Cytometry Core Facility to meet the current and future needs of our user base is development of more complex and sophisticated multi-parameter and high-speed sorting capabilities. The requested MoFlo(TM) instrumentation will facilitate this critical development. This development will be aided by the MoFlo's enhanced multi-laser capabilities (three separate laser interrogation spots, focused/pinhole collection for all fluorescence detectors) and high speed sorting capabilities (25,000-50,000 cells/sec, 10-15X our current instrument capabilities). Further, the facilities oversight by Director, Dr. Charles Goolsby, with over 23 years experience in research and clinical flow cytometry and Mary Paniagua MT(ASCP)SI, with over 12 years experience in flow cytometry ensure that efficient implementation of these enhanced capabilities will occur.