The flow cytometry core facility of the Institut Curie in Orsay is available for Institut Curie research teams, external academic and to industry.

Flow cytometry is generally used for a multiparametric analysis of individual cells in suspension, with the possibility of subsequently sorting subpopulations of interest.

The cells in suspension may be simultaneously marked with many fluorochromes, each identifying a molecule of interest. The marked cells flow pass through a laser and, for each cell, the fluorescence intensity is quantified for each fluorochrome. Fluorescent probes can be used to detect different parameters such as: cell cycle, proliferation, apoptosis, pH changes and calcium flux.

The purpose of the flow cytometry core facility is to sort cells for users, and to train facility users on the self-service cytometers and related software for data acquisition and analysis.