Flow Cytometry and Cellular Imaging Core Facility Home
The Flow Cytometry/Cell Sorting and Confocal Microscopy/Image Analysis Core Laboratory was established in 1982, with the specific goal of providing the large community of peer-funded investigators with access to cell analysis technology. This facility provides instrumentation, personnel and expertise to assist users in multiparametric flow cytometry, fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), image analysis by confocal laser microscopy and digital microscopy, in situ hybridization techniques, including FISH and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). The laboratory is complemented by the ancillary confocal microscope facility with highly experienced investigators who can further assist facility users with confocal microscopy and image analysis.
Getting Started
Established and new users of the flow cytometry and Olympus FV500 confocal microscope shared resources may sign up by contacting Wendy Schober at 713-792-7640. New users will discuss specifics of their experiments with Core Facility personnel prior to planning their experiments. Users will perform staining and prepare samples for flow cytometry, cell sorting and microscopy, and core facility personnel will perform flow-cytometric analyses, FACS sorting and confocal microscopy for them. Less experienced users needing help in their staining procedures may ask core facility personnel for assistance in planning their experiments. Data analysis is commonly done jointly between core facility personnel and users.
Education
Reference books and protocols are available on site, many of which have been developed and/or tested in the facility. A hard copy of Current Protocols in Cytometry is also available on site. Many commonly used protocols are available on-line at the Department of Molecular Hematology and Therapy Web site. We are a service laboratory and happy to consult and advise as needed.
Core Grant Citation
This facility is funded by NCI # CA16672. Publications should cite the Core grant in the acknowledgment section, if publications use data generated by the Core facility. Two copies of the publication acknowledging the Core grant should also be submitted to the facility at 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 81, Houston, TX, 77030.