A Carrier Strategy for Mass Cytometry Analysis of Small Numbers of Cells

The recent launch of mass cytometry or cytometry by time of flight (CyTOF) has revolutionized flow cytometry. Similar to fluorescence flow cytometry, a key challenge for CyTOF is to analyze samples of limited amount or very rare cell populations under various experimental settings. Here we describe a carrier strategy that significantly reduces the required sample amount without losing analytical resolution. We were able to detect as few as 5 × 10⁴ human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) using this method. This simple method thus enables the maximal usage of valuable clinical samples.