Biodesign: Fluorescence Assisted Cell Sorting Facility

The FACS core facility serves to support research activities of faculty members, research scientists and students at ASU, as well as the scientific community in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The major application of FACS is to identify and isolate various populations of cells. This is based on size and granularity of the cells, and the color of fluorochromes applied to or expressed by the cells, e.g., via expression of fluorescence protein genes. The facility currently has a bench top analyzer (FACScalibur), and a high-speed cell sorter (FACSAria), both of which were obtained from Becton Dickinson Biosciences. BD FACS Aria Cell Sorter This is a high-speed cell sorter. The instrument is equipped with three air-cooled lasers (488nm, 633nm and 407nm) and five fluorescent detectors, providing up to15 measurements (including 13 colors) of the cells. It offers high-speed cell sorting for isolation of rare populations of cells. In addition, the Automated Cell Deposition Unit (ACDU) allows cells sorted into multiwell plates or onto microscope slides. 1)Multicolor analysis of up to 15 parameters 2)Two- and four-way bulk sorting devices for a variety of tube sizes 3)Single cell sorting onto 6,12, 24 and 96 well plates 4) More applications can be explored. BD FACS Calibur Cell Sorter & Analyzer This is a single 488nm laser cell analyzer, which offers three color discrimination (520nm, 560 nm and 660 nm). The major application of this instrument: 1)Examination of cell surface/cytoplasmic markers (up to 3 colors), 2) GFP/RFP identification, 3)DNA synthesis and cell division assessment 4)Apoptosis and necrosis analysis, 5) Multi-cytokine array profiling.