Week 6: The Facts about FACS
by Stephanie Wang
Most stem cell laboratories work with a specialized technique called fluorescence-activated cell sorting or
FACS. A huge hulk of a machine, FACS sorters are able to sort cells individually, examining thousands upon
thousands of cells one at a time in a period of minutes. By the end of this blogpost, I hope you will be able to understand this complicated technique and its significance.
In the Wagers Lab, I have utilized FACS to separate muscle stem cells (also known as the skeletal muscle precursor cell population) from other cells derived from the whole skeletal muscle extracted from mice. First taking muscles that range from the rubber-like abdominal muscle to the compact triceps and quads, I then utilize enzymes to digest the muscle in order to separate the myofibers from the whole muscle and then the individual muscle cells from each other. In the end of the
digestion and filtration process, I am left with tubes of satellite cells, cells that lay upon the outer layer of the muscle (where the muscle stem cells are located).
Most stem cell laboratories work with a specialized technique called fluorescence-activated cell sorting or
FACS. A huge hulk of a machine, FACS sorters are able to sort cells individually, examining thousands upon
thousands of cells one at a time in a period of minutes. By the end of this blogpost, I hope you will be able to understand this complicated technique and its significance.
In the Wagers Lab, I have utilized FACS to separate muscle stem cells (also known as the skeletal muscle precursor cell population) from other cells derived from the whole skeletal muscle extracted from mice. First taking muscles that range from the rubber-like abdominal muscle to the compact triceps and quads, I then utilize enzymes to digest the muscle in order to separate the myofibers from the whole muscle and then the individual muscle cells from each other. In the end of the
digestion and filtration process, I am left with tubes of satellite cells, cells that lay upon the outer layer of the muscle (where the muscle stem cells are located).