Time-resolved scattered light analysis of cell cycle developed

The DRFZ has developed a new method for the automatic detection of rare cells that can cause rheumatism, for example. This method makes it possible to recognize cells solely on the basis of their shape and in future to isolate them for further investigations without labelling them beforehand, as has been necessary up to now. This method is particularly suitable for cell cycle analysis.

Toralf Kaiser and colleagues from the Flow Cytometry Core Facility (FCCF) at the DRFZ together with scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics and the Berlin company APE (Angewandte Physik und Elektronik GmbH), developed this novel flow cytometric method (MAPS-FC – multi-angle pulse shape flow cytometry). The cells pass through a beam of light at high speed. The device then measures the angle and the time course of the light scattered by the cell. The resulting pulse shape provides a characteristic pattern for differentiating between mitotic, activated and resting cells in the cell cycle. The advantage of MAPS-FC is the non-invasive differentiation of cell cycle phases and even sorting will become possible.