Cytometry and Antibody Technology Facility

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT - CYTOMETRY AND ANTIBODY TECHNOLOGY FACILITY The Cytometry and Antibody Technology (CAT) Facility remains one of the highest utilized core facilities by UCCCC investigators. CAT supports the development of state-of-the-art flow cytometric assays for cellular phenotype and function for University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC) investigators. The mission of CAT is to provide cutting-edge flow cytometry technology operated by expertly trained personnel; and provide expert technical consultation and training of researchers on cytometric and antibody technology. In total, CAT supported 84 unique UCCCC members during this time period, with 188 federally funded peer-reviewed cancer- relevant grants and 105 peer reviewed publications (60% in journals with impact factor ≥ 10). Specific Core accomplishments during the current funding period include obtaining a new BD FACs Fortessa for 15 color flow cytometry, an Aria Fusion for sorting human samples for translational studies, and a new CyTOF Helios mass cytometer that was funded by a successful NIH S10 award. UCCCC members benefit from this Core through: (1) Reduced costs – Through the CCSG support, UCCCC members are provided with high-end instrumentation at a reduced cost; (2) Quality control – All the flow cytometers are monitored on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis to ensure that they perform with a reliable consistency. For example, calibration beads are run daily to identify drift in laser alignment or detector performance, and instruments are decontaminated monthly, with laser power measurement and an in-line sheath filter replacement every six months. The staff also run a descriptive protocol of each instrument to ascertain quantum efficiency and background noise in each channel, and calibration in selected channels using MESF beads. Equivalent protocols are performed on the CyTOF, ImageStream and the Bioplex; (3) Expert Training and Consultation.