User`s guide

Contents ▲ 161 ▼ Index
Measuring Events
The bioanalyzer counts cells stained with fluorescent dyes and measures their
fluorescence intensities. Each cell or bead that passes the detector and emits
fluorescence above a threshold value is counted as an event. For each event, the
intensity of two different fluorescent signals (red and blue) is recorded. The intensity of
the fluorescent signal depends on the amount of stain bound to the cell (and therefore a
specific cell property) and the physical properties of the stain itself.
The Agilent 2100 bioanalyzer lets you determine the number of cells characterized by a
specific pattern of fluorescence.
For example, to differentiate between dead and living cells, you can use a
non-fluorescent dye that becomes fluorescent when metabolized by living cells. After
staining with such a dye, living cells have a higher fluorescence value than dead cells.
The second dye could bind to a specific surface marker on a subpopulation of the cells.
This allows you to determine the number of living cells that contain your marker of
interest.
For evaluation, 2100 expert displays the results as histograms and as dot plots.