A portable fluorescence cytometric system that provides a modular platform for quantitative real-time image measurements has been used to explore the applicability to investigating cellular events on multiple time scales. For a short time scale, we investigated the real-time dynamics of uptake of daunorubicin, a chemotherapeutic agent, in cultured mouse L-cells in a micro cell culture analog compartment using the fluorescent cytometric system. The green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression to monitor induction of pre-specified genes, which occurs on a much longer time scale, has also been measured. Here GFP fluorescence from a doxycycline inducible promoter in a mouse L-cell line was determined. Additionally, a system based on inexpensive LEDs showed performance comparable to a broadband light source based system and reduced photobleaching compared to microscopic examination.

Date Published: 22 February 2006
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 6088, Imaging, Manipulation, and Analysis of Biomolecules, Cells, and Tissues IV, 60880X (22 February 2006); doi: 10.1117/12.644521

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6088:
Imaging, Manipulation, and Analysis of Biomolecules, Cells, and Tissues IV
Daniel L. Farkas; Dan V. Nicolau; Robert C. Leif, Editor(s)