Measurement of PTEN by flow cytometry

Abstract

Recent advancements have driven the development of smaller footprint, less expensive, and user-friendly flow cytometers introducing the technology to more users. Flow cytometry is an established tool for multiparametric analysis of various important cellular characteristics. Fluorescent dyes or fluorophore-conjugated antibodies allow for measurement of protein expression, identification of cell populations, or DNA content analysis. This is combined with analysis of light-scattering detection to determine cell size and complexity to allow for the study of complex cell samples, such as whole blood. Through antibody staining for a variety of surface markers as well as intracellular proteins we can also elucidate intracellular signaling, and phosphor-signaling, on a single-cell basis. Here we describe the application of flow cytometry analysis to the tumor suppressor PTEN in various cancer cell lines and a mouse model.