Immune Cell Profiling Assay Boosts Use of Mass Cytometry

A new, multiplexed, antibody-based assay for immune cell profiling on its mass cytometry platform has been launched.

The assay is comprised of a single-tube assay pre-loaded with 30 metal-labeled antibodies that target common immune cell protein markers and a custom-developed software analyzer that can identify 37 immune cell types.


The assay is produced by Fluidigm (South San Francisco, CA, USA) is designed to run on its Helios CyTOF platform and said it expects the product to drive instrument placements and appeal to laboratories with existing Helios instruments, especially academic core facilities. The firm added that the assay offers great consistency, demonstrated in an early-access program that involved six sites.

The highly multiplexed 30-marker antibody panel was developed with input from expert immunologists in academia and biopharma and builds on the panels designed by the Human ImmunoPhenotyping Consortium. The panel was designed using industry-proven antibody clones, this assay provides the broadest single-tube view of the immune system from each precious sample. While the Maxpar Direct Immune Profiling Assay provides excellent immune cell coverage, one can easily add up to seven new antibodies to support the study goals. Because mass cytometry has limited channel crosstalk and a broad detection range, the expansion of high-parameter panels is simplified, a significant advantage over fluorescence cytometry.

Peter Betzelos, Fluidigm’s senior VP of global marketing, said, “For immune profiling core laboratoriess, they see this as a way they can access more investigators. In networks with a single core lab, the assay provides highly reproducible results with samples coming from multiple investigators. A standard solution that they can they easily customize by adding up to seven additional antibodies. They can share this product offering within their institution and beyond to their networks. Given its consistency run to run and site to site, it is also an ideal solution for large multi-cohort or multi-site studies.”