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Shared Resources and Core Facilities
Flow Cytometry
The Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory Shared Resource provides access to state-of-the-art flow cytometry and related technologies to researchers at The University of Kansas Cancer Center and other area institutions. This shared resource provides researchers with sophisticated methods for the analysis and preparative sorting of both normal and tumor cells.
Flow cytometry helps researchers to measure apoptosis, gene expression, drug metabolism, immune responses and pathways of cellular activation, both normal and tumor-related. This helps scientists understand cancer better, develop possible new treatments, and can be used to detect the presence and extent of cancer.
The shared resource maintains instruments, computer workstations for data analysis and related equipment to support researchers in a wide variety of cancer-related research projects. If preferred, the shared resource can perform all steps of flow cytometry experiments, beginning at sample preparation, for investigators. Learn more about the University of Kansas Medical Center’s Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory.
Our lab is interested in how breast cancer cells hide from the immune system. The Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory Shared Resource has been critical for us to characterize what cells of the immune system are differentially affected in mouse models of breast cancer. This area is completely unstudied, with very little literature to guide our efforts. We have relied on the expertise of the flow core staff to guide our immune profiling projects. —Christy Hagan, PhD, cancer center researcher
[00:00:00] I'm Mary Markiewicz, I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics and Immunology, and I am the Scientific Director of the Flow Core Shared Resource.
“How does your shared resource support researchers?”
Our core supports researchers by providing access to the latest flow cytometry instrumentation, as well as, we have two full time technicians that are well trained in flow cytometry that can do flow cytometry staining of antibody staining of cells for you, run your samples, help you analyze your samples.
“Can you give an example of when your shared resource contributed to a study with major scientific impact? How did you contribute?”
In helping David Akhavan in generating his preliminary data for an NIH grant that he and Stephan Bossmann were able to [00:01:00] obtain working on CAR T cells. And much of the preliminary data was generated in our shared resource with the training help of our technical staff and helping analyze their data.
“Why should researchers consider partnering with your shared resource on their next project?”
Researchers should consider partnering with our shared resource because we have the expertise and technical support to help people who are even very new to flow cytometry get very good, reproducible results at the highest level that we can with flow cytometry.
Contact us
Request our services.
Engage the Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory Shared Resource on your project. Email mmarkiewicz@kumc.edu with your service request.
Research highlights
Targeting AKT in renal cell carcinoma infiltrating lymphocytes to generate memory T cells for adoptive cell transfer
T cell immunotherapy involves taking T cells out of patients, activating them in culture to enhance their cancer-killing ability and reinfusing them into patients. Researchers are still looking for the optimal method to activate the T cells.
The University of Kansas Cancer Center researchers are performing studies to determine whether they can find ways to better activate the T cells to be better killers of renal cell carcinoma. These researchers are expanding tumor reactive T cells in vitro from the renal cell carcinoma microenvironment in various conditions to promote the best cancer-killing T cells. The Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory Shared Resource allows these researchers to perform single-cell analysis studies that are critical to T-cell studies.
Exploring the effects of nutritional intervention pre- and postsurgery for bladder cancer
A radical cystectomy is performed on bladder cancer patients whose cancer has either spread into the bladder wall or recurred after initial treatment. While effective in treating the cancer, there can be a high cost in terms of long-term complications after surgery. The goal of this research effort was to unlock the potential of nutrition interventions to improve outcomes, survival and quality of life in bladder cancer patients. The researchers believe alterations to the immune response against tumor cells are critical to the potential effectiveness of this treatment and are using multiple capabilities of the Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory Shared Resource to test this hypothesis. While this research specifically evaluated patients undergoing radical cystectomy, the findings may be applied to other surgical patients in the future and may transform the approach to nutrition preparation and recovery after surgeries. Learn more.
Cite the cancer center support grant
This resource is funded by The University of Kansas Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) awarded by the National Cancer Institute (P30 CA168524). Publications that have utilized facility resources, services or scientific data generated by the resource should acknowledge the resource and cite the NCI CCSG grant.
Learn more
Interested in becoming a cancer center member?
To apply, click here. Applications are accepted throughout the year. Contact Lisa Harlan-Williams at lharlan-williams@kumc.edu for more information regarding membership.