Wednesday, April 23, 2025
4/23/2025
Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorter - NIH funded researchers at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) currently have critical need for a high-speed fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS) to be managed by the UTHSC Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting (FCCS) Shared Resource Laboratory (SRL). This application is for funds to purchase a Thermofisher Bigfoot Spectral Cell Sorter that is ideally suited to meet all of the current and expected future needs of NIH funded researchers at UTHSC. The sorter configuration will include: five lasers and 48 fluorescence detectors, forward and side scatter (FSC and SSC) detectors, small particle detectors (SPD), six-way sorting into tubes, multiway sorting into multiwell plates, indexed single-cell sorting, and integrated class II type A2 biocontainment. The new sorter is intended to replace a 15-year-old BD Biosciences (BD) FACSAria I SORP sorter with upgraded sampling fluidics to a FACSAria IIu. The aging FACSAria IIu sorter does not have a 561 nm yellow-green laser, is limited in its current fluorescence detector configuration, does not have SPD capability, and can no longer meet needs of NIH funded UTHSC FCCS SRL users. BD has informed us that future support for that sorter cannot be guaranteed beyond 2024. New replacement parts for many mechanical and electronic components may no longer be available after 2024 and may only be acquired by scavenging from similarly aged machines removed from service. The aforementioned FACSAria IIu is the only cell sorter accessible to all UTHSC researchers. The recent advent of spectral unmixing as an alternative to traditional peak bandwidth compensation has improved the distinctive identification of fluorochromes with overlapping peak fluorescence in multicolor experiments. That improved distinction effectively increases the number of available fluorochromes that may be used in any given experiment. Spectral unmixing has also dramatically improved the resolution of dim marker fluorescence from autofluorescence. The uses of spectral cell sorting by the investigators in this application include but are not limited to: 1) deep profiling and sorting of infiltrating intratumor immune cells; 2) sorting macrophage, neutrophil, and CD8 T cells from influenza infected and bacterial co-infected lungs; 3) sorting adipose tissue macrophages into phenotypically distinct subsets; 4) sorting reporter-expressing cerebellar cells; 5) sorting oligodendrocyte lineages; 6) sorting mitochondria and exosomes that affect muscle stem cell development; 7) sorting leukocytes from spirochete-infected mice into lymphoid and monocytic subsets; and 8) sorting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).