Rapid development of modern medicine requires the system which can acquire living cells, especially on stem cells and human embryonic stem (hES) cells in good condition. Taking advantage of its proprietary technologies in fiber optics and mechatronics, Furukawa Electric has developed and commoditized a compacted flowcytometer (PERFLOW^TM) that features damage-less sorting for the first time in the world. Unlike the conventional optical lens system configuration, PERFLOW eliminates air layer intervention allowing high-sensitivity measurement through directly connecting optical fibers for both laser light and fluorescent and scattered light receptions to the flow cell. This optics structure enables us to obtain new information from transmission light instead of forward scatter light conventionally used. Measurement results of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells as well as lymphocyte subsets using our transmission / side scatter light system showed a distribution pattern similar to that obtained with conventional forward scatter / side scatter system. Furthermore, measurement of HeLa cells synchronized in each cell-cycle phase with transmission light signals displayed an increase in size consistent with their actual size (G2/M>S>G1), indicating that transmission light signals have a higher accuracy than forward scatter signals. Our PERFLOW system has a performance of damage-less sorting of single living cell. Megakaryocyte, one of the most delicate blood cells which has never been sorted alive by conventional sorter so far, was alive three days after sorting with our PERFLOW system. Additionally, single neural crest stem cell was also successfully sorted using the PERFLOW system and formed a colony after 20 days culture in vitro. Taken together, these results demonstrate that PERFLOW is a compacted flowcytometer with a high performance in cell analysis and sorting. Through further improvement, it will provide more novel information and become a useful tool of medical researches.

The Cell Lab Quanta SC MPL is the latest flow cytometer provided by Beckman Coulter. It is a fusion of the flow cytometry and the Coulter Principle. It can simultaneously measure 3 fluorescence colors, side scatter and Coulter Volume. This system gives research customers the ability to simultaneously measure 9 different parameters, volumetric cell counting, fluorescence concentration, fluorescence surface density, etc.

It is also a fusion of the flow cytometry and the fluorescence microscopy. For maximum flexibility, the system comes equipped with a 488nm laser and a mercury arc light source for 366, 405 and 435nm excitation.

The MPL module is designed to allow samples to be aspirated from various types of plates and delivered to the Quanta SC for analysis. Plate types include: 24, 96, and 384 well and can be flat, round, square, shallow and deep. In addition to a plate, up to 8 Vi-Cell sample cups can be loaded on the side of the plate loader for either samples or staining reagents.

We will introduce features and applications of the Cell Lab Quanta SC MPL.

Objective : Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) is an essential tool to screen chromosomal imbalances in cancer cytogenetic research. In the present study, we estimated cytological staining methods in analyzing genomic DNA extracted from cytological smear by CGH. Study Design : Imprint cytological slides were prerared for each fresh-frozen breast cancer tissue. The slides were stained by three staining methods. Under microscopic observation, cancer cells were microdissected and forwarded to DNA extraction and degenerate oligonucleotide-primed (DOP) PCR CGH. Results : CGH was possible in all methylgreen-stained and Giemsa-stained cytological slides, but not all in Papanicolaou-stained slides. Number of chromosomal imbalance detected was 6 to 11 in methylgreen-stained slides, and 5 to 10 in Giemsa-stained slides. Conclusion : The present study indicates that Giemsa staining is preferable to Papanicolaou staining for CGH analysis of cytological slides.