St. Jude Reference #SJ-07-0007
Description
Researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital developed a solution with two improvements: it makes the surface membrane of cells permeable without destroying the membrane, and it functions as a fixative. Cell treatment with the solution allows antibodies and other probes to penetrate inside the cell; thus, allowing the detection of intracellular (cytoplasmic and nuclear) molecules. The morphology of the cell is preserved so that different cell types can be recognized, and surface antigens can be detected. The preservation is superior to other available reagents, resulting in more sensitive antigen detection and a more accurate distinction of cell types. The main application for the solution is for the immunophenotypic characterization of cells using antibodies and flow cytometry. Detection of intracellular markers is useful for diagnosis of cancer and monitoring the response to therapy. Additional flow cytometry research applications include the study of signal transduction using antibodies to phosphorylated molecules and of cytokine production using anti-cytokine antibodies. This improvement has considerable potential benefits, such as allowing a more precise classification of tumor cells and a more sensitive detection of tumor cells remaining after treatment.
Keywords
Flow Cytometry, solution, cancer, permeable cell membrane, assay
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