CFSE

From: Jake Kohlmeier (jkohl@ku.edu)
Date: Fri Nov 09 2001 - 20:39:38 EST


Dear flowers,
Being a rookie in this field, I was wondering if anyone out there has
answers to some of the problems I have encountered with CFSE staining.  When
I label purified human CD4+ T cells with CFSE and also stain with a second
marker (CD3 for example) I see a population of cells that have not divided
that appear negative for CD3, as well as some that are positive.  In cells
that have undergone 1 or more divisions, there is no longer a CD3 negative
population.  As I expect, when I run CD3 alone as a control all the cells
are positive.

If I increase the voltage in FL2 when looking at CFSE and CD3
simultaneously, I can "move" the CD3 negative cells so they are now positive
without affecting the intensity of the cells that were positive to begin
with at the lower voltage.  So my questions are:

Why am I seeing a CD3 negative population and why do I see it only in
non-dividing cells?  Does this have anything to do with the fact that the
stronger CFSE signal from non-dividing cells is somehow interfering?

Also, is increasing the voltage of FL2 a "legal" thing to do to make this
small population of cells stain positive for CD3?  I want to be sure that by
doing this I'm not changing reality and the data are still of good quality.
Any suggestions are welcome.  Thanks.

Jake Kohlmeier
Department of Molecular Biosciences
University of Kansas
1200 Sunnyside Ave.
Lawrence, KS 66045
(785) 864-4029



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