cell biology

Manufacturing and high-throughput screening may seem to have very little in common, but they are related at a fundamental level. Both seek to transform a raw material into a finished product, and both struggle with constraints, or bottlenecks, that reduce efficiency. How can we apply the revolutionary 20th century management principles of continuous improvement to 21st century flow cytometry?

Despite the pivotal role of the 488 nm (blue) laser in the rise in popularity of flow cytometry, it experienced somewhat of a fall from grace following the shift to higher usage of the 561 nm (yellow) laser. However, with the advancement of flow cytometry leading to the use of more complex multicolor panels and ever-increasing fluorophore numbers per experiment, the blue laser is starting to make a comeback. Discover how StarBright Blue Dyes can help you make the most out of your 488 nm laser.

Watch this video to learn about the many benefits of StarBright Dyes — our proprietary fluorescent nanoparticles — and see how they can help you build bigger, better flow cytometry panels with ease. StarBright Dyes have been designed to be stable, with superior brightness, narrow excitation and emission characteristics, and the flexibility to be included in new and existing experiments. They offer improved resolution of specific cell populations and minimized spillover and spreading.

Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is an effective treatment strategy for multiple myeloma (MM) but isolating enough hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) for transplantation can be challenging. The selective CXCR4 inhibitor motixafortide has been shown to be a safe and efficacious HSPC mobilization agent in a phase 2 trial when paired with G-CSF. Crees et al. (2023) report the results of the phase 3 trial, in which they used the ZE5 Cell Analyzer to explore motixafortide’s mobilizing effects.

Protein expression analysis is essential in cell biology research, as it provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms that underlie cellular functions. Traditional methods for protein analysis, such as western blotting and ELISA, are useful for studying protein expression in cell lysates. However, these methods require labor-intensive sample preparation and do not provide information on the spatial distribution of proteins within intact cells. In-Cell Western is a powerful technique that enables quantitative and qualitative in situ protein expression analysis.

In December 2022, a groundbreaking law was passed granting the U.S. FDA the authority to consider data from new alternative methods in the preclinical testing phase for new drug development. Among the new methods are 3D cell cultures that mimic human tissues and organs, known as microphysiological systems (MPS). The new law aims to improve clinical outcomes while decreasing reliance on animal testing. In this article, we discuss MPS and review data showing how they can synergize with Bio-Plex Assays.

With the advancement of technology, flow cytometers are now able to detect a much greater range of fluorescent dyes, facilitating the analysis of more extensive and complex multicolor immunophenotyping assays. But this has also introduced more pitfalls to navigate during the design of these experiments. Find out how StarBright Dyes can help circumvent many of these issues, enabling consistent and reliable results.

Watch this webinar to learn how a novel workflow can efficiently isolate CTCs for diverse downstream applications, without disrupting their native 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.

Research into human diseases has led to the development of novel monoclonal antibody drugs. These monoclonal antibody therapies have been successful because of their specificity and selectivity. However, ongoing development and successfully launching a new mAb drug require robust and reliable methods to screen for drug targets, demonstrate drug safety and efficacy, and scale up manufacturing to meet the stringent regulatory guidelines required for approval.