Expertise

The rapid technological development in flow cytometry is driven by the growing need for methods that are capable to unravel complex cellular networks on a single cell basis. Multi laser, multicolor or spectral flow cytometers are state of the art to identify and characterize regulatory T-cells, tissue specific T-cells, macrophages and antigen presenting cells and Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) is still one of the most prominent techniques to physically separate these cells and make them available to subsequent techniques for a detailed functional and genomic analysis.

The newly formed Flow Cytometry Core Facility (FCCF) at the Campus Poppelsdorf provides a shared resource infrastructure for the optimized use of technically challenging equipment. The access to centralized technical support, high quality assurance, and specialized training should remove the typical barriers to use this advanced technologies and the location of the main instruments at the LIMES Institute as part of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and next to the Faculty of Agriculture, pharmaceutical Research groups and Institutes of the Medical Faculty should contribute to that.

Furthermore the FCCF will offer educational activities as stand-alone opportunities or as part of the existing graduate and professional programs, provide technical training, and conduct research that enables development of the next generation of state-of-the-art flow cytometry technology.