Question

Which controls should I bring with me?

Answer

It is recommended to bring the following controls for flow cytometry experiments:

1. Unstained cells as a negative control.
2. Unstimulated/untreated cells as a biological control.
3. Single-stained cells or beads for compensation.
4. Isotype control or FMO (fluorescence minus one) control.
5. If using a viability dye to exclude dead cells, bring a separate viability control for proper gating, since dead cells cannot always be excluded based on light scatter alone. It is recommended to kill part of the cells, mix them with live cells, and then stain with your viability dye (e.g., PI, 7-AAD, DAPI, TO-PRO-3).
6. An untransfected control in experiments with fluorescent proteins.