It depends on what you are doing. If you have a mixed sample- like from a patient, you have in each tube cells that are positive and negative for the antigen being studied. The negative cells in that tube stained with a specific antibody are better controls than an isotype control. The isotype is useful when everything is the same- like cell lines- or everything seems positive and you don't know if it is real. Maryalice Stetler-Stevenson, M.D., Ph.D. Chief, Flow Cytometry Unit Laboratory of Pathology, NCI, NIH Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. > ---------- > From: Julie L Wieseler Frank > Reply To: frankjw@psych.colorado.edu > Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2002 11:35 AM > To: Cytometry Mailing List > Subject: controls > > > hello all! > > okay, so when i was trained to run flow experiments, i was STRONGLY > encouraged to use isotype controls for each label i used to evaluate non- > specific binding. is this considered a highly conservative approach? i > am > working with somebody who shrugs off my need/want to run isotype controls, > and i feel baffled. > > i appreciate feedback -- this seems like a no-brainer, but it would seem i > am missing something! > > -- > Julie L. Wieseler-Frank, PhD > Research Associate > Department of Psychology > Campus Box 345 > University of Colorado at Boulder > Boulder CO 80309-0345 > tel: 303 735 2295 > fax: 303 492 2967 > frankjw@psych.colorado.edu > > >
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