The BD LSR II with 4 lasers (Blue, Red, Yellow-Green, and Violet) provides powerful capabilities for flow cytometry, enabling the simultaneous excitation of multiple fluorochromes for detailed cell analysis. Here's a more detailed overview of the lasers:
Blue Laser (488 nm): This versatile laser is used to excite fluorochromes like FITC, PE, PerCP, and DAPI. It is ideal for cell surface marking and analyzing general cellular characteristics such as size and complexity.
Red Laser (633 nm): This laser excites fluorochromes such as APC and APC-Cy7, which are commonly used for multiplexing. These fluorochromes are applied in more complex analyses, such as studying cellular signaling pathways or profiling immune cells.
Yellow-Green Laser (561 nm): The yellow-green laser is useful for fluorochromes like PE, PI (propidium iodide), and mCherry. PE is ideal for high-intensity marker expression, while PI is used to label dead cells. mCherry is often used in genetic expression experiments.
Violet Laser (405 nm): This laser excites fluorochromes like Pacific Blue, BV421, and DAPI, which are essential for multiplexing in experiments with many markers. DAPI is commonly used for labeling cell nuclei in nuclear staining.
Advantages:
- Multiplexing: By simultaneously measuring different fluorochromes, the BD LSR II can analyze multiple cellular parameters at once, providing in-depth analyses of complex cell populations.
- Efficiency: The use of multiple lasers minimizes fluorochrome overlap, increasing the accuracy and resolution of measurements.
With these 4 lasers, researchers can obtain detailed information about cell types, marker expression, and other cellular characteristics in a single run. This makes the BD LSR II especially suitable for immunofluorescence, cancer research, immunology, and other advanced biological studies.