A 19-Color Multiparameter White Blood Cell Panel Designed For The Immunophenotyping Of Normal And Malignant Leukocytes By Flow Cytometry

By Michelle Scott, Chris Brampton PhD, and Kelly Kroeger PhD, Bio-Rad Laboratories

Abstract
Flow cytometry is an important tool for the diagnosis and classification of leukemia. While many leukocyte markers have been identified and are used to determine the exact subtypes of leukemia a patient may have, high-dimensional multicolor analysis has been limited by instrument capabilities. This has often resulted in splitting a valuable limited sample into multiple independent tests to fully define the patient’s phenotype.

A 19-antibody white blood cell panel was developed using the ZE5™ Cell Analyzer from Bio-Rad Laboratories. With up to five lasers and 30 analysis parameters (of which 27 channels are for fluorescence detection), all the markers necessary to classify chronic/acute lymphoproliferative leukemia disorders can be combined into a single tube. Using this panel, a patient with chronic B-cell lymphocytic leukemia was successfully identified from a normal PBMC sample.