Heparin reduces nonspecific eosinophil staining artifacts in mass cytometry experiments.

ABSTRACT: The analysis of heterogeneous cell samples by mass cytometry (CyTOF) relies on the assumption that metal labeled antibodies accurately bind to their target antigens. We report a previously unappreciated experimental artifact of non-specific antibody binding by eosinophils during intracellular CyTOF analysis of human whole blood samples. We hypothesized that this non-specific binding results from a charge-based interaction between the metal-labeled antibodies and highly cationic proteins found in eosinophillic granules and found that this non-specific staining artifact could be reduced to background levels with a simple blocking protocol using heparin as a competing anionic protein. This protocol eliminates a potential source of erroneous data interpretation in all experiments involving int

SUBMITTER: Rahman AH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4919163 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature