Flow Cytometry Reference Standards—Section 23.2

Page Contents

• AlignFlow Flow Cytometry Alignment Beads
• Cell Sorting Set-Up Beads
• AbC and ArC Bead Kits for Flow Cytometry Compensation
• Flow Cytometry Size Calibration Kit
• CountBright Absolute Counting Beads
• Ordering Information

Flow cytometers are designed to perform quantitative measurements on individual cells and other particles with speed, accuracy and precision. As with all high-performance instrumentation, flow cytometers must be calibrated frequently to ensure accuracy and reliability. The stability, uniformity and reproducibility of our fluorescent microspheres make them ideal reference standards for flow cytometry. However, because of the high variability in quantum yields of bound dyes and the heterogeneity of protein labeling, as well as problems with stoichiometry and accessibility in binding to targets, bead standards containing a known number of fluorophores per bead do not necessarily provide accurate information about the number of ligands bound to a cell.

In order to ensure accurate and reproducible quantitative results, flow cytometers should be checked at least daily for proper performance. AlignFlow flow cytometry alignment beads permit the calibration of a flow cytometer's laser(s), optics and stream flow without wasting valuable and sensitive experimental material. These fluorescently stained polystyrene microspheres are highly uniform with respect to both size and fluorescence intensity, and they are designed to approximately replicate the size, emission wavelength and intensity of biological samples. Because the dyes are contained inside the microsphere's matrix instead on the surface, AlignFlow beads have excellent photochemical and physical stability, providing reliable reference signals for aligning, focusing and calibrating flow cytometers. The fluorescent dyes have been carefully selected for optimal excitation by laser sources commonly used in flow cytometry.

The 2.5 µm–diameter and 6.0 µm–diameter AlignFlow beads are each available in three versions: for 350–370 nm excitation with UV lasers (A16502, A16505), for 488 nm excitation with blue lasers (A16500, A16503) and for 633 nm excitation with red lasers (A16501, A16504). The fluorescent dyes have been carefully selected for optimal excitation by laser sources commonly used in flow cytometry. The UV light–excitable beads emit from 400 nm to 470 nm; the 488 nm light–excitable beads emit broadly from 515 nm to 660 nm (Figure 23.2.1); the 633 nm light–excitable beads emit from 645 nm to 680 nm. The AlignFlow flow cytometry alignment beads are supplied as suspensions packaged in dropper vials for convenient dispensation.

Cell Sorting Set-Up Beads are reliable standards for the setup and calibration of flow cytometry sorter instruments. The Cell Sorting Set-Up Beads can be used to calibrate a flow cytometer’s laser source, optics, and stream flow without wasting valuable and sensitive experimental material. With a diameter of 6 µm (± 10%), the Cell Sorting Set-Up Beads approximate the size, emission wavelength and intensity of many biological samples and are specially designed for checking cell sorter settings such as drop delay and efficiency (cell loss during sorting). For optimal verification of the laser alignment of a cell sorter cytometer, please see our selection of Alignflow Flow Cytometry Alignment Beads described above.

The Cell Sorting Set-Up Beads are fluorescent dye–infused microspheres that have been optimized for use with UV (C16506), blue (C16508), green/yellow (C16509) and red (C16507) lasers. The dyes used in the manufacture of the Cell Sorting Set-up Beads have been carefully selected to provide emission peaks coincident with cells labeled with commonly used fluorescent dyes. The emission profiles for these standards are intentionally narrow in comparison to cells labeled with a corresponding fluorescent dye (Figure 23.2.3). Consequently, PeakFlow beads serve as reference sources with emissions centered upon the expected fluorescence of the experimental sample. Due to their narrow emission profiles, beads of two different fluorescent colors exhibit minimal spectral overlap, and little or no color compensation is needed when setting up for multicolor experiments.

As with all of our flow cytometry standard microspheres, the Cell Sorting Set-Up Beads are stained internally rather than on the surface. The dyes are therefore insulated from environmental interactions that could cause variable fluorescence output, resulting in excellent signal stability. These 6.0 µm–diameter fluorescent polystyrene microspheres are supplied as suspensions packaged in dropper vials for convenient dispensation, with a choice of four fluorescent colors to match the flow cytometer's laser (Spectral characteristics of Cell Sorting Set-Up Beads—Table 23.9).

AbC Anti-Mouse and AbC Anti-Rat/Hamster Bead Kits

The AbC Anti-Mouse Bead Kit (A10344) provides a consistent, accurate and simple-to-use technique for the setting of flow cytometry compensation when using fluorophore-conjugated mouse antibodies. The kit contains two types of specially modified polystyrene microspheres, the AbC capture beads, that bind all isotypes of mouse immunoglobulin, and the negative beads that have no antibody binding capacity. After incubation with a fluorophore-conjugated mouse antibody, the two bead components provide distinct positive and negative populations of beads that can be used to set compensation (Figure 23.2.4). Because of the consistent nature of bead scatter and high surface antibody–binding capacity, more consistent and accurate compensation settings for any combination of fluorophore-labeled mouse antibodies can be achieved. The AbC Anti-Rat/Hamster Bead Kit (A10389) provides parallel functionality for protocols using fluorophore-labeled rat or hamster antibodies. The AbC capture beads and negative beads have a diameter of approximately 6 µm (actual size for each lot is listed on the component vial). The bead suspensions are supplied in dropper vials for convenient sample application.

ArC Amine-Reactive Compensation Bead Kit

The ArC Amine Reactive Compensation Bead Kit (A10346) provides a consistent, accurate and simple-to-use technique for the setting of flow cytometry compensation when using any of the LIVE/DEAD fixable dead cell stains. The LIVE/DEAD Fixable Dead Cell Stain Kits (Viability and Cytotoxicity Assay Kits for Diverse Cell Types—Section 15.3) use an amine-reactive dye labeling method to evaluate the viability of mammalian cells by flow cytometry. The ArC Amine Reactive Compensation Bead Kit includes two types of specially modified polystyrene microspheres to allow easy compensation of the LIVE/DEAD fixable stains: the ArC reactive beads (Component A), which bind any of the amine-reactive dyes, and the ArC negative beads (Component B), which have no reactivity. After incubation with any amine-reactive dye, the two kit components provide distinct positive and negative populations of beads that can be used to set compensation.

The Flow Cytometry Size Calibration Kit (F13838) provides nonfluorescent particle-size calibration standards for use in forward light scattering measurements of cell size by flow cytometry. This kit contains suspensions of six different nonfluorescent microspheres packaged in convenient dropper vials. The individual standards contain highly uniform polystyrene microspheres with nominal diameters of 1.0 µm, 2.0 µm, 4.0 µm, 6 µm, 10 µm and 15 µm.

Flow cytometry provides a rapid method for quantitating cell characteristics; however, most flow cytometers cannot directly provide the cell concentration or absolute count of cells in a sample. Absolute cell counts have been widely used in quantitating cell populations and disease progression and are generally obtained either by combining a separate cell concentration determination from a hematology analyzer with flow cytometry population data (multiple-platform testing) or by adding an internal microsphere counting standard to the flow cytometry sample (single-platform testing). The single-platform method is preferred as it is technically less complicated and more accurate than multiple-platform testing. To facilitate this single-platform method, we offer CountBright absolute counting beads (C36950), a calibrated suspension of microspheres that are brightly fluorescent across a wide range of excitation and emission wavelengths and contain a known concentration of microspheres. For absolute counts, a specific volume of the CountBright microsphere suspension is added to a specific volume of sample, such that the ratio of sample volume to microsphere volume is known. The volume of sample analyzed can be calculated from the number of microsphere events and then used with cell events to determine cell concentration. In general, at least 1000 bead events should be acquired to assure a statistically significant determination of sample volume. Sufficient reagents are provided for 100 flow cytometry assays, each using 50 µL of counting beads per test.

CountBright absolute counting beads are broadly fluorescent and can be used with either a fluorescence or scatter threshold. Fluorescence can be excited by wavelengths from UV to 635 nm; fluorescence emission can be read between 385 nm and 800 nm. The fluorescence intensity of the microspheres has been adjusted to be about 5–50 times brighter than the anticipated intensities of typically stained cells. When using a scatter threshold, the microsphere signal should be above the threshold. The microspheres can be gated by a single parameter, but a combination of parameters can be used to resolve microspheres from cells and other events.

CountBright absolute counting beads can be used with any sample type, including no-wash/lysed whole blood. The microspheres in the reagents are approximately 7 µm in diameter and have sedimentation properties similar to lymphocytes. The accuracy of cell counts based on CountBright absolute counting beads depends on sample handling and the precise delivery of the volume of beads. The CountBright absolute counting beads must be mixed well to assure a uniform suspension of microspheres. After vortexing for 30 seconds, the microsphere suspension can be pipetted by standard techniques; however, more viscous solutions such as blood require reverse pipetting for accurate volume delivery. Cell suspensions may be diluted but should be assayed without wash steps. Other sample preparation steps that can lead to cell or microsphere loss should also be avoided. For antibody protocols, CountBright absolute counting beads should be used with reagents titered for no-wash staining.