Re: NH4Cl lysing

From: PLM Enterprises and Designs (plem@erols.com)
Date: Wed Sep 24 1997 - 12:34:57 EST


Hello Vincent,

Let me first take the time to say that one year ago today I was the one
asking the same question. I can happily now give what I can say has been
the easiest, most reliable manner I have found in doing whole blood. :

1- NH4CL: seems to work OK, although I've never checked pH. HOWEVER, it
does not seem to be reliable...sometimes a pellet is left, and it also
takes more time.

2- FACSLyse did not work well for us...also appeared somewhat unreliable
in that sometimes a pellet would be left. There didn't appear to be a
pattern, but perhaps there was something we were not doing (if so, I
don't know what it was as we were following directions)

3- IOtest Whole blood Lyse and FIX (coulter/Immunitech) and Gentrak's
similar product.....Gentrak's product is what we now use, but the two
procedures are identical, although I believe that Gentrak's instructions
are more detailed. As listed in the directions, you  must vortex
immediately after adding the lysing solution, therefore do NOT do more
that 3 tubes at a time. Another thing we found that gave us a 100%
lysing success rate is to vortex also JUST BEFORE adding the lysing
agent. The lysing is done just after staining in these protocols.

Patricia Echeagaray
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
P. Echeagaray
Flow Cytometry Services
Southern Research Frederick
Frederick MD
echeagaray@sri.org

Vincent Gin wrote:
> 
> To all of you who uses ammonium chloride lysing on peripheral blood and
> bone marrow samples for surface markers:
> 1. does the pH of the solution stay for more than 1 day? Ours goes from
> pH 7.2 to as high as pH 7.7 on the next day. We have been making fresh
> batch everyday.
> 2. do you stain first, then lyse or lyse first? Are there any
> differences in fluorescence intensity with one method or the other?
> If there is anything else we should be aware of in using nh4cl lysing
> vs FACSLyse, ficoll etc. please advise. Thanks much in advance! Nancy
> Gin - United Hospital - St.Paul, MN.



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