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Flow Cytometry

Flow Cytometry

The development of flow cytometry techniques began in 1934 with initial attempts by Andrew Moldavan, a bacteriologist who counted the cells in a flowing capillary system. Moldavan pumped cells through a capillary tube focused under a microscope for visualization. The invention of photometry allowed the measurement of differentially-stained cells, and Louis Kamentsky developed the first multiparameter flow cytometer in 1965 to identify and count the cancer cells in cervical tissue specimens.
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Cell Size

Cell Size

Cell sizes vary widely among and within organisms. Bacterial cells range between 1-10 micrometers (μm)and are considerably smaller than most eukaryotic cells. The smallest bacteria are 0.1 μm in diameter—about a thousand times smaller than eukaryotic cells, which typically range from 10-100 μm.
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Cells can take in nutrients and water via diffusion through the plasma membrane itself or through specific channels in the membrane. The area of the membrane surrounding...

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Updated: Mar 13, 2026

Sample Preparation for Mass Cytometry Analysis

Sample Preparation for Mass Cytometry Analysis

Published on: April 29, 2017

Cell size assays for mass cytometry.

Alan D Stern¹, Adeeb H Rahman^2,3, Marc R Birtwistle¹

¹Department of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, 10029.

Cytometry. Part a : the Journal of the International Society for Analytical Cytology

|October 22, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Mass cytometry can now reliably measure cell size using new plasma membrane stains. Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and Osmium tetroxide (OsO4) assays provide accurate cell size metrics for mass cytometry analysis.

Keywords:

CyTOF HEK293 U87 WGA cell size flow cytometry mass cytometry whole blood

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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2026

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Single-cell Analysis of Immunophenotype and Cytokine Production in Peripheral Whole Blood via Mass Cytometry

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Published on: June 26, 2018

Area of Science:

Biotechnology
Cell Biology
Immunology

Background:

Mass cytometry enables simultaneous measurement of numerous cellular parameters, surpassing conventional flow cytometry.
A key limitation in mass cytometry has been the absence of a reliable cell size metric analogous to forward scatter intensity (FSC) in flow cytometry.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and validate plasma membrane staining assays for assessing mammalian cell size in mass cytometry.
To establish reliable, alternative methods for cell size determination in mass cytometry experiments.

Main Methods:

Development of two plasma membrane staining assays: wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and Osmium tetroxide (OsO4).
Imaging and flow cytometry experiments to correlate WGA staining intensity with traditional cell size measurements.
Incorporation of WGA staining in mass cytometry analysis of human whole blood, PBMCs, and dissociated lung tissue.

Main Results:

Established a correlation between WGA staining intensity and established cell size metrics.
Demonstrated reproducible patterns of WGA staining intensity across immune cell subsets with distinct sizes in human whole blood.
Showed a strong correlation between WGA and OsO4 staining intensities in mass cytometry analysis of PBMCs and lung tissue.

Conclusions:

Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and Osmium tetroxide (OsO4) staining assays are effective for acquiring cell size-related parameters in mass cytometry.
These novel staining methods expand the measurable parameters in mass cytometry, enhancing its utility in biological research.