SITC Publications

Flow cytometry traditionally uses fluorochrome-labeled probes, such as antibodies, to identify cells expressing the targets of those probes. A sample stream carries single cells in suspension past a laser, exciting the fluorochromes, with quantitation of the emitted fluorescent signals from each cell via optical filters and photomultiplier tubes. In mass cytometry, or CyTOF, the fluorescent labels are replaced with heavy metal ions. The metal ions are chelated to a polymer, which is covalently linked to antibodies or other probes. After staining with these probes, single cells are introduced via an aerosol stream into a plasma torch, resulting in complete ionization of the labeled cells. The heavy ions are then focused via a quadrapole and enter a time-of-flight detector, where the individual ions are quantitated. This results in the simultaneous benefit of more available labels, with much less spillover between detector channels.

Authors: Holden T. Maecker and Alexandre Harari

Published as a short report in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (2015) 3:44.

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