Cytometry, flow


Cytometry, flow: Analysis of biological material via detection of the light-absorbing or fluorescing properties of cells, or of subcellular fractions such as chromosomes, as they pass in a narrow stream through a laser beam. Flow cytometry can be used with automated sorting devices to sort successive droplets of a stream into different fractions, depending on the fluorescence emitted by each droplet.

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  • Cytosine (C)

    Cytosine (C): One member of the G-C (guanine-cytosine) pair of bases in DNA.

  • cytosis

    cytosis: 1. Suffix referring to cells, as in anisocytosis (inequality in the size of red blood cells), elliptocytosis (elliptical red cells), and phagocytosis (ingestion of cells). 2. Suffix connoting an increase in cells, as in leukocytosis (increase in white blood cells) and lymphocytosis (increase in lymphocytes).

  • Cytotoxic

    Cytotoxic: Toxic to cells, cell-toxic, cell-killing. Any agent or process that kills cells. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are forms of cytotoxic therapy. They kill cells. The prefix cyto- denotes a cell. It comes from the Greek kytos meaning hollow, as a cell or container. Toxic is from the Greek toxikon = arrow poison.

  • Cytoskeleton

    Cytoskeleton: The scaffolding structure of the cell cytoplasm. The cytoskeleton consists of intermediate filaments, actin filaments, and microtubules.

  • Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte

    Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte: A T cell that is antigen-specific and is able to search out and kill specific types of virus-infected cells. When cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) find cells carrying the viral peptide they are looking for, they induce these cells to secrete proteins that attract nearby macrophages (a type of white blood cells). These macrophages then […]


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