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New lasers for flow cytometry: filling the gaps

Nature Methods volume 4, pages 678–679 (2007)Cite this article

To the editor:

Flow cytometers rely almost exclusively on lasers for excitation of fluorescent probes. Although lasers are excellent excitation sources, their discrete wavelengths limit the visible light that is available for fluorophore excitation. Even the most modern cytometers typically provide no more than four laser wavelengths, with the traditional blue-green (488 nm) and red (633–640 nm) wavelengths being the most common. Even with multilaser instruments, coverage of the spectrum is incomplete, with gaps that exclude many useful fluorophores. This is largely due to the limited selection of wavelengths available with existing laser technology.

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Figure 1: Excitation with DPSS and supercontinuum laser sources.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Experimental Transplantation and Immunology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892, Maryland, USA

    Veena Kapoor & William G Telford

  2. Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, 10461, New York, USA

    Fedor V Subach & Vladislav V Verkhusha

  3. Fianium Ltd., 20 Compass Point, Ensign Way, Southampton, SO31 4RA, UK

    Vladimir G Kozlov & Anatoly Grudinin

Authors
  1. Veena Kapoor
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  2. Fedor V Subach
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  3. Vladimir G Kozlov
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  4. Anatoly Grudinin
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  5. Vladislav V Verkhusha
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  6. William G Telford
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Competing interests

V.G.K. and A.G. are employees of Fianium, Ltd., the manufacturer of the supercontinuum white light laser described in this manuscript.

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Kapoor, V., Subach, F., Kozlov, V. et al. New lasers for flow cytometry: filling the gaps. Nat Methods 4, 678–679 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth0907-678

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