Help with Flow cytometry - (Jul/13/2005 )

Hi, I would like to examine cell populations within blood samples obtained from rainbow trout, It would be helpful to quantify differing populations to see if their is a reponse to a phamaceutical product i am trying. Does anyone know of a simple protocol using flow cytometry as i am bored counting different cells using the microscope

You should be able to look at different cell populations using a flow cytometer. In human blood you can distinguish different populations roughly by using the forward and side scatter profiles (which are representative of cell size and granularity respectively). If you want to be exact you need antibodies against specific cell surface markers for monocytes, T-cell, B-cells etc. This isn't a problem for human cells but I don't know about the availability of antibodies against trout proteins.

Hope this helps,
Ceri