Life Technologies Flow Cytometer Alignment & Linearity Beads

• Confidence—ensure the reliability of optimal daily instrument performance
• Performance—uniform production creating ideal reference standards
• Reliability—minimal variation for consistent data acquisition
• Compatibility—full range of tools for any instrument

Beads for Laser Alignment AlignFlow™ and AlignFlow™ Plus flow cytometry alignment beads are reliable references for aligning, focusing, and calibrating flow cytometers. These fluorescently stained, polystyrene microspheres are highly uniform with respect to size and fluorescence intensity, resulting in low CVs. The beads approximate the size, emission wavelength, and intensity of many biological samples and permit the calibration of the flow cytometer’s laser source, optics, and stream flow without wasting valuable and sensitive experimental material (Figure 1).

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Figure 1. AlignFlow™ flow cytometry alignment beads excited at 488 nm by an argon-ion laserand monitored in three emission channels. The broad fluorescence emission is detected in all three channels. Note the exceptionally small variation of fluorescence intensity of the beads. Contributed by Carleton Stewart, Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

• Read the AlignFlow™ Product Information Sheet

Beads for PMT Linearity

LinearFlow™ flow cytometry linearity kits are designed to provide 6 precisely determined bead intensity levels to monitor the linearity of the instrument and its PMTs. As reference standards, these fluorescent linearity beads can be used to quantitate the relative fluorescence of labeled cells, to evaluate the fluorescence stability of a sample, and to monitor instrument performance and reproducibility. Colors are available for a multitude of excitation lines and emission channels to allow any PMT to be monitored regardless of instrument manufacturer.

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Figure 2. Fluorescence intensities of the six bead suspensions supplied in the LinearFlow™ Red Flow Cytometry Intensity Calibration Kit. Read the LinearFlow™ Product Information Sheet

 

Description	Bead Size	Excitation	Emission	Cat. no.
LinearFlow™ Flow Cytometry Intensity Calibration Kits	2.5 µm	UV, 405	430	L14812
		488	525	L14821
		488, 532	575	L14814
		488, 532	620	L14816
		633	660	L14818
	6.0 µm	UV, 405	430	L14813
		488	525	L14822
		488, 532	575	L14815
		488, 532	620	L14817
		633	660	L14819

Beads for Cell Sorter Setup

Molecular Probes® PeakFlow™ flow cytometry reference beads are reliable standards for flow cytometry instrument setup and calibration. These fluorescently stained, polystyrene microspheres are highly uniform with respect to size and fluorescence intensity. The dyes used in the manufacture of PeakFlow™ beads have been carefully selected to provide emission peaks coincident with cells labeled with commonly used fluorescent dyes. The emission profiles for these standards are intentionally narrow in comparison to cells labeled with a corresponding fluorescent dye. Consequently, PeakFlow™ flow cytometry beads serve as reference sources with emissions centered on the expected fluorescence maxima of the experimental samples.

(Click to enlarge) Figure 3. Normalized emission spectra of PeakFlow™ flow cytometry reference beads (solid line) and fluorescein-labeled cells(dashed line). The narrow emission spectrum of PeakFlow™ beads is approximately centered on the broader emission spectrum of fluorescein. Read the PeakFlow™ Product Information Sheet

Product	Color	Laser	Ex (nm)	Em (nm)	Fluorophore matches	Size (µm)	Cat. No.
PeakFlow™ Flow Cytometry Reference Beads	Blue	UV, 405	400	460	DAPI, Hoechst dyes	2.5	P14825
						6	P14826
	Green	488	505	5155	FITC, Alexa Fluor® 488	2.5	P14827
						6	P14828
	Orange	488, 532	570	575	R-PE, Rhodamine, Alexa Fluor® 546	2.5	P14829
						6	P14830
	Carmine	488, 532	580	620	PI, Texas Red®, Alexa Fluor® 594	2.5	P14831
						6	P14832
	Claret	633	645	680	Cy®5	6	P24670
	Ultrared	633	665	695	Cy®5.5	6	P24671
	Infrared	633	735	770	Cy®7	6	P24672

Beads for Size Calibration

The Flow Cytometry Size Calibration Kit provides a set of microsphere suspensions to serve as reliable size references for cytometry users. The kit contains six suspensions of unstained polystyrene microspheres, each with a known diameter determined by transmission electron microscopy. The size of cells in an experimental sample can be estimated by comparing the FSC signals with those of the reference microspheres. The microspheres function as reproducible size markers and can be used intermixed with the experimental sample or in parallel runs.

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Figure 4. Histogram analysis of the forward scatter intensity (FSC) log channel values of the six polystyrene microsphere samples supplied in our Flow Cytometry Size Calibration Kit. FSC measurements were performed on a Becton Dickinson FACScan® flow cytometer using excitation at 488 nm.

• Read the Flow Cytometry Size Calibration Kit  Product Information Sheet