Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2026

A Pipeline to Investigate the Structures and Signaling Pathways of Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Receptors
Published on: June 8, 2022
[Phospho-FACS: a powerful tool for exploring intracellular transduction cascades]
Y Gernez1, L A Herzenberg, L A Herzenberg
1Département de Génétique, Université de Stanford, Stanford, Californie, Etats-Unis d'Amérique.
Introduction:
FACS (fluorescence-activated cell sorting), or flow cytometry, was developed in 1971 by Leonard Herzenberg's team at Stanford University. Under continuous development, this technology enables single-cell multiparametric analysis and sorting, based on physical properties of cells and/or their relative expression levels of specific glycoproteic epitopes and metabolites.
State Of The Art:
Recently, the use of fluorescent antibodies specific for phosphorylated epitopes - or "phospho-epitopes" - within proteins of interest has further extended the range of FACS analyses. This new application, dubbed "phospho-FACS", has quickly become a tool of choice for delineating intracellular phosphorylation cascades.
Perspectives:
In both basic research and clinical research, the application of phospho-FACS to cellular subsets from blood or the periphery, whether frequent or rare, enables the discovery of pathological biomarkers and therapeutic innovation.
Conclusions:
Thanks to its rapid implementation and its ability to generate single-cell data, the phospho-FACS technique features numerous advantages compared to preexisting analytical methods for intracellular phosphorylation cascades.
Related Concept Videos
Amplifying Signals via Enzymatic Cascade
Intracellular Signaling Cascades
Amplifying Signals via Second Messengers
IP3/DAG Signaling Pathway
What are Second Messengers?
Phosphoinositides and PIPs
Different phosphoinositides are synthesized and recruited on the cytosolic face of the plasma membrane. The localization of specific phosphoinositides concentrated in separate membrane...

