Cell Biology

Understanding how T cells respond to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is critical in developing long-term therapeutic approaches, as well as helping inform strategies for future pandemics. Learn how one team at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in San Diego, California, has been using novel T-cell activation assays to understand how our immune system responds to SARS-CoV-2.

In the day-to-day pressures of a research environment, it is natural to want to generate important data as quickly as possible. However, there are real benefits in ensuring that the antibody you have picked is the best for your experiment and spending time aliquoting and titrating your antibodies. Bio-Rad recently launched a free Antibody Advice Guide to equip scientists with the knowledge to get the best out of their experiments with antibodies. Read on for five examples of valuable information that you will learn from the guide, helping you generate publication-ready data.

For many scientists, high-throughput flow cytometry screens are associated with drug or compound libraries, but did you know that you can also apply this technique to study microorganisms, clinical melanoma samples, and even protein trafficking? Read on for five examples of the use of flow cytometry in diverse, high-throughput screening applications.

We asked core facilities staff and research scientists from the U.S. and Europe for their top tips for securing funding for large instrumentation, such as a cell analyzer or cell sorter. Here are the key questions you should consider while preparing your grant application to increase your chances of a successful outcome.

The ability to characterize the target of cell-mediated immune response is crucial during vaccine development. In studying the characterization of SARS-CoV-2 infection pathogenesis in humans, a research team identified neutralizing antibodies that provided context for vaccine antigen design. Discover how the ZE5 Cell Analyzer was used to detect activation-induced markers, measure intracellular cytokines, and identify spike protein–specific antibodies in a rapid, high-throughput manner.

Genetic screens are powerful tools for finding genes associated with a particular phenotype. They play an especially important role in cancer research and are leveraged to identify predictive biomarkers that can be used to improve treatment efficacy or trace the progression of genetic alterations that ultimately lead to disease. The HAP1 cancer cell line model and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) bring efficiency to the development of genetic screens that is making them a force to be reckoned with.

Presented here are some tips to help you avoid buyer’s remorse and make an educated decision about which instrument to purchase. These tips provide you with the tools to make an informed decision when purchasing a cell sorter.

Fluorescence-activated cell sorting is a valuable tool for research, but could the physical forces of sorting stress the cells, altering their behavior and confounding experimental results? Recent research found that although cell sorting activated p38 MAPK stress signaling, no functional or structural changes were observable. The results indicate that jet-in-air systems such as the Bio-Rad S3e Cell Sorter do not alter cell behavior.

Incorporating fluorescence-based cell sorting into your lab grants you powerful access to new research areas and rarer cell types without sacrificing efficiency or results. New, powerful techniques like CRISPR and single-cell analysis are enhanced by the isolation of specific cells. But isolating cell populations of the right quality and quantity is both challenging and time consuming. We offer some tips to set yourself up for success and get the most out of your sorts.

A recent publication showed that expression of a protein involved in homology-directed repair (HDR) can improve efficiency of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. Learn how manipulation of DNA repair pathways and improvements to gene editing workflows, such as the addition of cell sorting, can facilitate applications of CRISPR-Cas9 technology.