Re: Keeping large cells in suspension
Stephen G. Kayes (kayes@sungcg.usouthal.edu)
Thu, 10 Aug 1995 21:38:13 -0500 (CDT)
Parasitologists have long used methyl cellulose to slow down single cell
organisms such as ameobae, flagellates etc. for microscopic study. In
fact such a product was (is?) commercially available (I don't know from
whom) under the name "Proto-Slo". The significance of this is that these
eukaryotic organisms stayed alive during the time they were suspended in
this material. I seem to remember (but I also forget alot) that this
solution was about 8% methyl cellulose. Hope there is grain of
usefulness here for suspending your particles. The other thing that
comes to mind is 0.5% agarose if you can maintain a temperature above the
geling point.
Steve Kayes
On Wed, 9 Aug 1995 gap@mit.edu wrote:
> Hi All!
>
> Has anyone found a way to keep large particles in suspension for
> any extended period of time? The problem I am having is that I am
> trying to sort a fraction of 100um particles and these things settle out
> of solution after only 10 minutes or so. This makes the sort long and
> tedious. I once heard about a food additive called xanthan gum that
> would increase the viscosity of the liquid the particles are in. Does
> anyone have this or another product working?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Glenn
> MIT Flow Cytometry Core Facility
> (617) 253 6454
> gap@mit.edu
>
CD ROM Vol 2 was produced by staff at the Purdue University Cytometry Laboratories
and distributed free of charge as an educational service to the cytometry community.
If you have any comments please direct them to Dr. J. Paul Robinson, Professor & Director, PUCL,
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907. Phone:(317) 494-0757; FAX (317) 494-0517; Web http://www.cyto.purdue.edu
EMAIL robinson@flowcyt.cyto.purdue.edu
