Flow cytometry analysis typically begins with creating gates to distinguish cells of interest. This process of gating can appear quite random to a flow cytometry novice but it is in fact the most important part of flow cytometry analysis.
So what gating methods do you need to know to confidently analyze your stained samples? This blog post will take you through the various gating strategies for effective flow cytometry analysis.
- Learn as much as possible about your cells of interest
- Forward and side scatter density plots for identifying your cell population of interest and excluding debris
- Forward scatter height versus forward scatter area density plot for doublet exclusion
- Single parameter histograms for identifying cells with a particular marker expression
- Two parameter density plots for further analysis
- Backgating
Using the above gating methods, you now should be able to confidently analyze your cells and make accurate conclusions based on your flow cytometry analysis.
Learn more about gating and see a full length gating example.