Immune Phenotyping Unit

Key capabilities include, but are not limited to, the analysis of immune cell subpopulations, intracellular cytokine expression, signaling pathways, metabolic dysfunction, and cell death using flow cytometry. The Unit also provides cell sorting services and guidance on in vitro culture and differentiation of isolated cells. In addition, the Unit assists researchers with the rapid examination of signaling pathways, metabolic dysfunction, and gene expression using immunofluorescence staining and confocal microscopy.

Key Focus Areas

Nutrient sensing and metabolism in immune cells
Through collaboration with the CIM Bioinformatics & Metabolomics Unit, distinctive nutrient-sensing and metabolism-related genes and signaling pathways in immune cell subpopulations are identified via comprehensive computational analyses of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and single-cell sequencing data. Flow cytometry and confocal microscopy are then employed to determine the roles of these target genes and pathways in disease pathogenesis.

Human biopsy and clinical studies
To develop personalized and precision medicine approaches, metabolic disease-related human biopsies are being collected for the construction of the CIM Biobank. Findings from animal models will be validated in these human samples using flow cytometry and other techniques. In addition, the Unit supports researchers in developing plans and establishing collaborations for clinical trials.