Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Facility

The Clinical Immunology Flow Cytometry/Cell Sorting facility was established with the specific goal of providing the large community of peer-funded investigators at the University of Colorado Denver and regional biotechnology companies with access to cell analysis technology. The facility is a joint effort by the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the Colorado Center for AIDS Research (CFAR).The facility provides instrumentation, personnel, and expertise to assist users in multiparametric flow cytometry and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for both research and clinical applications. The Flow Cytometry Facility follows Clinical Laboratory Improvement amendments (CLIA) guidelines and is certified by the College of American Pathologists (CAP).

Services

The facility has the following equipment and data analysis capabilities:

  • FACScan - 3 color cell analysis
  • FACSCalibur - 4 color cell analysis
  • FACSAria - 9 color cell analysis and cell sorting
  • Mac with CellQuest software for data analysis
  • PC with Diva, FlowJo, and Summit software for data analysis

We not only provide access and help for users to run their own samples but we also provide full service flow cytometry including sample preparation, staining, data acquisition, and data analysis. We currently perform immunophenotyping for a number of clinical trials as well as CD4/CD8 count tests for the Adult Clinical Trials Group (ACTG). We conduct proficiency testing for both CAP and the ACTG. Our new transplantation engraftment monitoring service (link with that page) that combines sorting with chimerism testing has now been established. Please contact Brent Palmer PhD (Brent.Palmer@uchsc.edu) if you have additional questions about our services.

The core director and staff can also help design experiments, develop and implement new applications as well as collaborate scientifically with users.

Information for New Users

The following is a list of facility usage policies. Click here to download the user agreement form and fill out the information at the bottom of the page and return to facility personnel. Samples cannot be analyzed until this form has been signed and returned and a speed type number is provided.

New users will then need to schedule a time for software and hardware training. This training will initially take about 1 hour. Contact the laboratory at 303-315-1482 or Brent.Palmer@uchsc.edu. After the initial training new users will need some supervision and help which we will provide until the user and facility staff feel comfortable that they can operate the machine on their own. Once approved on the machines, researchers will be able to use the flow cytometers 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Pricing Information

Academic rates
Task Rate
FACScan $50/hour (self run)
FACSCalibur $60/hour (self run)
Add $35/hour to the above price if run by our personnel
FACSAria (multiparametric acquisition) $97/hour* (run by our technician)
FACSAria- Cell Sorting $125/hour* (run by our technician)
In addition there is a 30 minute setup charge for non aseptic and 60 minute charge for aseptic.
Flow Cytometry Analysis Free
Training Free

*CFAR members price on the FACSAria is $77 for analysis and $97/hour for cell sorting.

Contact Dr. Brent Palmer at Brent.Palmer@uchsc.edu about Industry or full service pricing.

General Information about Flow Cytometry

Flow cytometry is a very effective tool for researchers to use to characterize and enumerate cells of interest by size, shape, surface and intracellular expression of molecules of interest, and function. Flow cytometry provides data on large numbers of individual cells (i.e., not an average across large numbers of cells) and it is very fast- thousands of cells per second can be analyzed and/or sorted. It is a tool for analyzing and/or measuring cell surface staining, intracellular staining, antigen specific T cells, gene expression, proliferative capacity, just to mention a few parameters, for all types of cells that can be suspended in liquid, e.g., blood cells, collagen digested or disaggregated tissue (e.g. lung, liver, and spleens cells), stem cells and cultured cells.

Using the FACSAria specific populations of cells can be purified at a rapid rate to allow further investigation of their properties. Up to four populations of cells can be purified simultaneously from the same sample.

Useful Flow Cytometry Links