For removing clumps when sorting another alternative is to make filters yourself out of hypodermic needles and nylon mesh bought from Small Parts Inc. To make them I first snap the needle in half, discard the sharp end. Then I very carefully heat the plastic end over a naked flame and quickly press it onto the nylon mesh. If you are lucky or skillful you'll have good seal, takes a bit of practice, then trim off the excess mesh.You can then attach it to the sample line, it gets sterilized when I flush the fluidics with 70% ethanol. I like these filters as the cells don't get much of a chance to re-clump. Simon Monard FACS Lab Manager Trudeau Institute Saranac Lake NY12983 Ph 518 891 3080 X352 >>> Elaine Kunze <mek4@psu.edu> - 11/20/2000 11:38 AM >>> A few people asked for a summary of responses. Basically there were four possibilities: 1. Partec: Disposable filters from Partec. The internet site is www.partec.de; email is info@partec.de I see on our box that the options are 20, 30, 50, 100 and 150 micron sizes. We use the 50 um. The order number is 06-4-2317. We get them non-sterile and package and autoclave them if necessary. I hope this helps. 2. Falcon: I have always ordered the Falcon 2235 filter top tubes for this purpose. They are 12x75 and come with a 30 um filter fitted in the tube cap. They do not come sterile so I put a couple of tubes into each small sterilization bag and had our central sterile supply gas sterilize them for me. It worked great. 3. Miltenyi: I am using Pre-Separation Filters from Miltneyi Biotech Inc. with a mesh size of 30 micrometer. They fit into the tube but are a little wobbly. Order number is 414-07. The filters are sterile packed one in each package. I never had a problem with sorting after using this filter (at least concerning clogging of the 70 um nozzle). 4. BD: You can get these from BD. they are called Filcons. A bit expensive but I use them to sterile filter just before sorting. Check out their catalog. **************************************************************************** Elaine Kunze Flow Cytometry.....Image Analysis... Life Sciences Consortium 8B Althouse Laboratory (814-863-2762) Penn State University University Park, PA 16802
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