Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Facility

The Clinical Immunology Flow Cytometry/Cell Sorting facility is located on the 10th floor of Research 2 on the Anschutz Medical Campus. The facility was established with the specific goal of providing the large community of peer-funded investigators at the University of Colorado Denver and regional biotechnology companies with access to cell analysis technology. The facility is a joint effort by the Division of Allergy & Clinical Immunology and the Division of Infectious Diseases .The facility provides instrumentation, personnel, and expertise to assist users in multiparametric flow cytometry and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for both research and clinical applications. The Flow Cytometry Facility follows Clinical Laboratory Improvement amendments (CLIA) guidelines and is certified by the College of American Pathologists (CAP).

Please note our services, equipment and pricing below:

  Academic Rate Non-Academic Industry Rate
CELL Analysis    
FACScan (1-3 colors)** $40 $60
FACSCalibar (1-4 colors)** $50 $75
LSR II (1-13 colors)** $75 $100
FACSAria (1-13 colors) $99 $125
Cell Sorting    
FACSAria (1-13 colors)* $125 $150
Data Analysis    
FlowJO, Diva, Cell Quest Free Free
Training and Consultation Free Free
* The price for cell sorting (FACSAria) includes technician time.
* Please add $40/hour to the price of the FACScan, FACSCalibur and LSR II if the samples are run by Flow Lab personnel.

The facility's technical director, Brent Palmer Ph.D., and staff help design experiments, develop and implement new applications as well as collaborate scientifically with users. The staff provide full service flow cytometry assistance, including sample preparation, staining, and data acquisition and analysis. We currently perform immunophenotyping for a number of clinical trials, including CD4/CD8 immunophenotyping for the Adult Clinical Trials Group (ACTG). Click here to review our Transplantation Engraftment Monitoring service that combines sorting with chimerism testing. Please contact Brent Palmer PhD (Brent.Palmer@ucdenver.edu) if you have additional questions about our services.

Information for New Users

The following is a list of facility usage policies. Click here to download the user agreement form, fill out the information at the bottom of the page and return to facility personnel. Samples cannot be analyzed until this form has been signed and returned and a speed type number is provided. To receive access to the scheduling software, Click here to download the request for access to CLINIM/FLOWSHARED.

New users will then need to schedule a time for a training session with the flow laboratory personnel. This training will initially take about 1 hour. To schedule training, please contact Dr. Palmer at 303-724-7203 ( Brent.Palmer@ucdenver.edu) or Sonia Soto at 303-724-7211 ( Sonia.Soto@ucdenver.edu). After the initial training, new users will need some supervision and assistance which we will provide until the user and facility staff feel confident that the user can operate the instruments on his or her own. Once approved on the machines, researchers will be able to use the flow cytometers 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

General Information about Flow Cytometry

Flow cytometry is a multi faceted technique for characterizing and delineating cell populations via size, shape, surface and intracellular protein expression, which yields valuable information on both phenotype and cell expression. Flow cytometry is unique in its ability to rapidly analyze and sort thousands of cells per second while simultaneously providing data on distinctive cell populqations resolved at the single cell level. Flow cytometry can be used as a tool to identify novel cell populations based on the expression of cell surface markers through intracellular staining. It can also be used to examine antigen specific T cells, gene expression, or qualify the proliferative capacity of different cell populations. In addition it is a technique that can be performed using any cell sample suspension, e.g., blood cells, collagen digested or disaggregated tissue (e.g. lung, liver, and spleens cells), stem cells and cultured cells.

The BD FACSAria is a cell sorter that is capable of rapid, simultaneous purification of phenotypically distinct populations of cells. Up to four different cell populations can be purified simultaneously from the same sample.

Useful Flow Cytometry Links