Applications
of Flow CytometryApplications
of Flow Cytometry
CLINICAL APPLICATIONS
There are seven major applications in the clinical laboratory:
1. Monitoring AIDS patients
2. Immunophenotyping Leukemia and
Lymphomas and Monitoring Residual
Disease
3. Determining CD34 counts for
Hematopoietic Reconstitution
4. Monitoring Organ Transplant
Patients for Rejection
5. Reticulocyte Counts
6. Diagnosis of Paroxymal Nocturnal
Hemoglobinuria(PNH)
7. DNA analysis of S-phase fraction
of solid tumors
Two new potential clinical applications are monitoring solid tumor metastasis in blood and bone marrow and the use of microspheres to multiplex immuno and oligo transcription assays.
RESEARCH APPLICATIONS
Flow cytometry
is seeing a major increased use in the field of drug discovery. Because
of the multiparameter capability, antibodies can be used to identify cells
and cytokines or cytokine receptors to identify specific populations of
functional cells. This approach will lead to increased understanding
of how cells talk to one another. It is also possible to use fluorescent
probes to many physiological functions such as metabolic processes, ion
channels, organelles and intracellular pH. These assays are extremely
important in understanding the effects of drugs on cell physiology.
Finally, molecular phenotyping using in situ PCR, in situ hybridization
and the use of fluorescent markers for isolation of transfected cells,
such as green fluorescent protein, are significantly increasing.
