The Cytocell platform equips itself with a 32-parameter cytometer analyser

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At the beginning of October 2019, a Symphony A5.2 was installed on the premises of the Cytocell platform. This advanced cytometer acquired through SFR-Santé provides access to a new stratum of bioinformatics analyses. The team of the Cytocell platform is at the disposal of researchers who wish to use it.

The Cytocell platform has just acquired a Symphony A5.2, marketed by BD Biosciences. This cytometry analyser with 32 parameters completes the equipment park of the Nantes platform for flow cytometry and cell sorting, available to the scientific community.

"With this device, we are taking part in a technological leap," says Nicolas Jouand, technical manager of the Cytocell platform, which has so far been limited to 19 parameters with about 262,000 information channels recorded per parameter.
This new cytometer can analyse 32 parameters with a potential of 18 to 24 million channels for each. Furthermore, the device is equipped with 5 lasers (355, 405, 488, 561 and 637 nm), photomultipliers (PMTs) and next-generation detection systems. Such features provide data acquisition with less signal loss, better resolution, lower compensation, and limited spread phenomena".

The arrival of this equipment is part of a major disruption of flow cytometry analysis approaches initiated in recent years in favor of unsupervised and semi-automated techniques in bioinformatics.
The Symphony A5.2 comes with FlowJo version 10.6.1, which facilitates access to clustering and scaling tools such as opt-SNE, UMAP and FlowSOM via a simple and convenient graphical interface.
Finally, the device acquired by the Cytocell platform is the only one in France to be pre-equipped with Cascadegone technology, which is essential for analysing spectral cytometry data.
Currently under development at BD Biosciences, this technology should bring the number of parameters that can be analysed per single cell to 50.

With prior training by the Cytocell team, researchers from the Nantes site will be able to use this state-of-the-art equipment autonomously.
Any project must imperatively be discussed with the platform prior to the realisation of the panels in order to optimise their design according to the biological question.
"This will not only specify the voltage to be applied for each of the detected parameters according to the cell type studied, but also and above all to define the choice of colors in the panel so as to induce the least possible loss of resolution while spreading the electronic noise of the device", says Nicolas Jouand.

Pricing is currently under development. Interested teams are invited to contact the Cytocell platform team now.



Partners

This acquisition of the University of Nantes through the SFR-Health for a total amount of € 448,375 was financed within the framework of the CPER (Contract Plan State-Region) Translat 2015-2020 with the help of the FEDER (European Regional Development Fund) and co-financing from Biogenouest and Labex IGO.
Mis à jour le 18 June 2020.
https://labexigo.univ-nantes.fr/archives/the-cytocell-platform-equips-itself-with-a-32-parameter-cytometer-analyser