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Domenico Spadafora, Ph.D., demonstrates the new flow cytometer. |
The purchase was supported by an instrumentation grant from Lions Clubs International Foundation with matching contributions from the Lions/University of South Alabama Eye Research Institute, the Whiddon College of Medicine, and the USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute.
Flow cytometry is a laser-based technique used to identify and measure physical and chemical characteristics of single cells or particles. In this process, a sample is suspended in a fluid and injected into the flow cytometer instrument for the cells or particles to be analyzed.
The flow cytometry labs, located in the Medical Sciences Building and the Mitchell Cancer Institute, serve as college-wide resources providing cell counting and cell sorting services to researchers. The core labs also house other instruments available on a shared basis.
Domenico Spadafora, Ph.D., manager of the flow cytometry facility in the Medical Sciences Building, said the two key advantages of the new cytometer are greater dynamic range for detection and the capability to detect more parameters from samples.
“The greater dynamic range for detection translates to greater sensitivity for detecting small particles such as viruses and extracellular vesicles that facilitate cell-to-cell communication. The increased parameters include up to 25 channels to detect many more markers on cells than with our previous instrumentation, which was limited to eight markers,” Spadafora said. “There is also an autosampler on the new cytometer that will make running larger experiments much easier and less time-consuming for users.”
Eye research at the Whiddon College of Medicine is supported by the Lions/USA Eye Research Institute, which formed in 1990 and is represented by each of the 30-plus Lions Clubs within our district. Over the years, they have helped raise more than $1.3 million to support eye research at the Whiddon College of Medicine.
