The CFF (Core Flow Facility) provides and maintains flow cytometry equipment for over 150 annual users within the UMC Utrecht and external organizations.
Flow cytometry is a technology that rapidly analyzes single cells or particles as they flow past single or multiple lasers while suspended in a solution. Each particle is analyzed for visible light scatter and one or multiple fluorescence parameters.
Flow cytometry is a powerful tool that has applications in multiple disciplines such as immunology, virology, molecular biology, cancer biology, and infectious disease monitoring.
For example, it is very effective for the study of the immune system and its response to infectious diseases and cancer. It allows for the simultaneous characterization of mixed populations of cells from blood and bone marrow as well as solid tissues that can be dissociated into single cells such as lymph nodes, spleen, mucosal tissues, solid tumors, and more.
In addition to analysis of populations of cells, a major application of flow cytometry is sorting for subsequent cellular analysis. Sorting can be done in tubes or plates: from 6-well plates to 384-well plates, and in bulk or as single cells.
Within the CFF there are five analyzers, three sorters, and an ImageStream. Different instruments have different specifications, so if you are interested in our instrument availability and capabilities, visit our equipment overview page.
Overview EquipmentInternal users can also find more information about our facility and scheduling on Connect.
