Cientific EMU: purchase of functionally coupled flow cytometers to a facility of the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, USP

• Grant number: 22/11306-2
• Support Opportunities: Research Infrastructure Program - Scientific
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: July 31, 2030
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Immunology - Cellular Immunology
• Principal Investigator: Niels Olsen Saraiva Câmara
• Grantee: Niels Olsen Saraiva Câmara
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Alexandre Alarcon Steiner ; Ana Marcia de Sá Guimarães ; Carlos Frederico Martins Menck ; Denise Morais da Fonseca ; Jean Pierre Schatzmann Peron ; Lourdes Isaac ; Marcia Pinto Alves Mayer ; Maria Regina D'Império Lima
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/19959-0 - Platform for Providing Advanced Services in Flow Cytometry, BP.TT; 24/03416-8 - Platform for Providing Advanced Services in Flow Cytometry, BP.TT

Abstract

The ICB-USP has flow cytometry Facilities that serve more than 100 users and operate for more than 40 hours/week. This technology has been evolving very quickly. With the advent of spectral cytometry, the expectation of the scientific community is that a cytometer is capable of monitoring at least 20 markers simultaneously. This is not a reality for the conventional (non-spectral) cytometers that are available in Brazil. Thus, in order to be at the forefront of this important technique and ensure the international competitiveness of the research carried out, there is an urgent need to update our cytometers. We propose the acquisition of two functionally coupled spectral flow cytometers: (i) BD-FACSymphony" A5 SE Cell Analyzer, a state-of-the-art spectral analyzer; and (ii) BD-FACSDiscover" S8 Cell Sorter, a cell sorting device that relies on spectral as well as imaging information. The two cytometers can be used in functional coupling, so that cell populations identified in detail in the BD-FACSymphony can be separated and morphologically analyzed in the BD-FACSDiscover, and vice versa. These instruments can also be used independently, providing a flexibility that will allow users to meet the most diverse experimental demands. In addition, the equipment will make synergies with existing equipment in the Facilities, thus allowing studies with microorganisms and transgenic animals in biosafety level II, as well as state-of-the-art gene sequencing in a single cell. (AU)