Cytometry and Imaging

Flow Cytometry

Flow cytometry involves the high-speed measurement of multiple characteristics of cells in a stream of fluid that moves past a focused beam of light. As a cell passes the beam, light is both scattered from the cell and emitted from any fluorescent molecules incorporated in or attached to that cell. By collecting this light, information can be gathered about the type of cells that are present and the state they are in. Furthermore, some flow cytometres incorporate the ability to sort the cells into different fractions at high speeds thus enabling the purification of rare cell populations for further study.

Flow cytometry and cell sorting are key technologies that are used extensively by most of the research groups at Centenary. The Cytometry Facility at Centenary is extremely well-equipped with three cell sorters and three flow cytometry analysers and offers our researchers unrivalled access to state-of-the-art equipment with wide-ranging applications, along with the technical and scientific support necessary to make optimal use of this significant infrastructure investment.

Imaging

The Centenary's Imaging Facility encompasses both whole animal and microscopy-based imaging technologies. In 2007, we installation the LaVision Biotec TriMscope. This cutting edge multiphoton microscope enables researchers unprecedented access to the secret workings of living tissues at the cellular and molecular level. The multiphoton microscope at the Centenary Institute has two unique features, its imaging mode and laser. The unique imaging mode uses multiple laser beams and means fast moving objects and dynamic processes in living tissue can be viewed, for example, cells in the blood stream. The laser has been enhanced with a unit called an OPO that produces longer wavelengths of light than those used in other microscopes enabling researchers to potentially look deeper into living tissue than ever before.

The Centenary's microscopes, small animal imaging and high-level flow cytometry resources directly complement each other. Each technology provides unique, but partial, information about the disease process under investigation. Combining them significantly increases the total value of the research that can be carried out at the Centenary Institute.