Multi-User Equipment approved in grant 2017/50333-7: flow cytometer

Abstract

The Adolfo Lutz Institute (IAL) is a public health laboratory, and in its 126 years of operation in the State of São Paulo and throughout the national territory it has consolidated, and unique practices and knowledge based on scientific knowledge and applied research development in favor of Public health. Within the Call for Modernization of the Research Institutes of the State of São Paulo launched by FAPESP in 2017, the IAL proposed the Institutional Research Development Plan (PDIP) for 2018-2021. The PDIP is a document and planning tool, to be considered within the strategic management, which characterizes the institutional identity, explaining the importance of the IAL as an institution of Science and Research, its contributions to Public Health and presents strategies for the transformation that it intends to achieve in the next years. The modernization of the institute's equipment park was a pillar within the PDIP, whose fourth goal is to improve the bio and immunomarkers unit. In this context flow cytometry is one of the most widely used technologies for the identification of biomarkers. Flow cytometry is a laser-based technology that analyzes cell and particle characteristics. This methodology is widely used for immunophenotyping of peripheral blood cell populations. It is widely used to analyze the expression of surface and intracellular molecules of cells and microparticles, as well as to provide quantitative information on size and granularity. New generation cytometers allow the simultaneous analysis of multiple parameters in a single cell. Predominantly, this methodology is used to analyze the fluorescence intensity produced by antibodies conjugated to fluorochromes that bind to cellular molecules or to dyes that bind to vital components. In this project, we propose the acquisition of a new generation flow cytometer, the Cytoflex S from Beckman and Coulter Company, which has four lasers and discriminates 15 parameters. The purchase of this highly sensitive equipment will increase IAL's capacity for knowledge production, training of human resources in state-of-the-art technology and data analysis using bioinformatics tools and collaboration with other research institutions. The acquisition of this equipment envisions the long-term investment for the modernization of the institution and the technical and scientific development, generating results of high quality and impact on the scientific community and public health. Flow cytometry has evolved not only in the possibility of lasers and color numbers but also in optical technology, fluidity, data processing, analysis software, speed of acquisition, precision in the identification of cells and the possibility of different and new applications, such as the characterization of microvesicles and nanoparticles - extrapolating from the micro field to the nano. In IAL, there is a growing demand for characterization of the processes of immunological responses and of soluble and cellular biomarkers that characterize the immune response not only to infectious diseases of public health importance but also to nationally implemented vaccination schemes. Thus, this project that contemplates the acquisition of the Cytoflex S equipment aims to establish a nucleus for the identification of biomarkers in infectious diseases and vaccine schemes of importance to Public Health. (AU)