Mass Cytometry

In mass cytometry, we utilize heavy metals from the Lanthanide family, attached to specific antibodies that can be resolved and quantified using a high-resolution mass spectrometer. Background signal due to auto-fluorescence and limitations due to spectral overlap is eliminated. The mass cytometer uses high-temperature plasma to atomize and release the metal ions from the individual cells. These ions, which now include the metal labels, get fed into a mass spectrometer to measure the mass and abundance of each metal, and thus each matched protein. Currently, we can measure up to about 45 parameters at the single-cell level with the potential of up to 100 parameters.

Mass cytometry technology provides deep measurements across a broad array of cell types in a single tube. As a discovery tool, mass cytometry delivers a system-level perspective that lower-dimensional panels cannot match. The CyTOF simultaneously quantifies protein expression on and within cells. These attributes provide researchers with an unparalleled ability to generate high-resolution phenotypic and functional profiles of cells from normal and diseased states.

We have about 400 calibrated metal-conjugated antibodies, anti-mouse and anti-human, available for you to use. To see available antibodies please contact us. In addition, a full list of antibodies can be found on the Fluidigm site.

CyTOF is operated using the CyTOF acquisition software and generates FCS or TXT format files. Data analysis is performed using third-party software, such as Cytobank, a cloud-based platform of powerful tools to visualize results and produce high-impact graphics from mass cytometry data, such as SPADE, viSNE, Sunburst, and others.

CyTOF is available for all labs to use. For more information please contact Amir Grau.