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CORE FACILITIES
Since January 2011, the Gates Center has established and operated three core facilities that provide members with access to expert advice and state-of-the-art equipment and technologies at discount rates. The three core facilities are the Flow Cytometry Core, Morphology and Phenotyping Core and Bioengineering Core. These core facilities have been partially established and operated with funding from the Gates Frontiers Fund, Gates Frontiers Fund/CU Foundation matching funds, a Skin Diseases Research Core Center grant from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases awarded to Drs. David Norris and Dennis Roop, and Academic Enrichment Funds provided by the dean of the CU School of Medicine.
FLOW CYTOMETRY CORE
Flow cytometry (FC) is an essential tool for stem cell research, allowing the examination of cells at the single-cell level by using cell surface, internal, and nuclear labels. We also have more specialized equipment, which can rapidly isolate and collect unique types of cells.
Traditional flow cytometers use laser beams and fluorescent tags to identify the presence or absence of cell markers, however the number of easily identifiable labels is limited to 10 to 15 in conventional systems. Recently, with funding provided by the Gates Center and other campus sources, the core purchased a mass cytometer. This instrument uses rare-earth metal tags to easily identify up to 45 different markers on each cell.
The FC Core provides cutting-edge equipment at a cost-effective price, a dedicated and skilled staff, experiment design consultation, data analysis assistance and instrument training services to Gates members.
THE FOLLOWING WERE PROVIDED IN 2018:
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Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine
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We received additional funding from the School of Medicine, the Gates Center, the Cancer Center, and the CU RNA Initiative to purchase a new Sony MA900 cell sorter. This instrument will enable us to establish a customer-operated cell sorting service at an economical price.
We added a new spectral analyzer, the Cytek Aurora, which captures the spectral “fingerprints” of cellular fluorescence tags across the visible light spectrum, rather than using a narrow band of fluorescence for each tag. This innovation permits the use of more than 20 tags for each sample in a user-friendly manner.
We added two new software analysis packages, De Novo FCS Express and Astrolabe, which allow researchers to more fully explore their complex data sets including expanded graphical and statistical features.
We continue to deploy an enthusiastic, engaged and expert team to consult with and instruct members in basic and advanced flow cytometry techniques.
We continue to offer educational workshops and presentations to promote the optimal use of flow cytometry.
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