The facility is located at the eastern end of the sixth floor of the research wing (E building) just off the E building elevators in room E6014.

As a centralized resource, the flow cytometry facility provides researchers and clinical investigators at UConn Health and surrounding institutions with the ability to perform both multi-parameter analysis and sorting of cell populations into phenotypic, biochemical, and molecular subsets, based on a variety of characteristics including size and shape and fluorescence derived from antibody-tagging or expression of fluorescent molecules.

Computer workstations are available for data analysis. Instrument computers can also be used for data analysis, but data acquisition takes precedence over data analysis.

A centralized flow cytometry server is available for downloading data off of the instruments. The server link is available on each computer. Data should be transferred to this location or to the user's own portable drive after completion of an experiment.

The UConn Health Flow Cytometry Facility has six instruments available for cellular analysis and two cell sorters. We recently installed 2 BD FACS Symphony A5 spectral edition cell analyzers and these complement our Becton Dickinson (BD) LSR II, our automated high-throughput Bio-Rad ZE5, Accuri C6 analyzer, and Amnis ImageStream Mark II. The FACS Symphony A5 SE cell analyzers have 5 lasers, 50 detectors, and provide the capability of spectral cell analysis while maintaining the ability to perform conventional flow experiments. Each of these instruments is equipped with a high throughput loader. Additionally, the facility operates a Bio-Rad ZE5, which can obtain samples from 96-well and 384-well culture plates and detect up to 27 different parameters. The Amnis ImageStream Mark II imaging flow cytometer has 4 excitation lasers, 12 imaging channels and 3 objective lenses. It combines the speed, sensitivity, and phenotyping abilities of flow cytometry with the detailed imagery and functional insights of microscopy. This unique combination enables a broad range of applications that would be impossible using either technique alone.

The core facility also houses two BD high-speed cell sorters, a FACS ARIA II and a FACS Symphony S6 SE. The BD FACS ARIA II and FACS Symphony S6 SE cell sorters optically match our BD analyzers and can perform 4-way or 6-way sorting, respectively. Both have the option for single-cell deposition into multi-well plates or onto glass slides. The cell sorters are also equipped with aerosol containment for sorting biohazardous materials and are entirely enclosed in biosafety cabinets.

We also provide several computer workstations with flow cytometry and cytometric bead array analysis software. These include FlowJo (Treestar Inc.), BD FACS DIVA (BD Bioscience), ModFit LT (Verity), and FCAP Array (BD Bioscience).

The facility is staffed Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. After hours or weekend access is permitted for trained UConn Health employees. Please contact us with any questions regarding the facility, flow cytometry, or the development of new applications.