Title: flow cytometry assay
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - flow cytometry assay
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.14133
Status: current

Definition
Cell-based assay in which the response is dependent on the detection of the phenotype of cells as determined through the light-scattering properties of each cell, and, typically, the fluorescence intensity of a relevant probe.

Notes
1) Flow cytometry has been adapted to fluorescently labeled bead-based assays.
2) In fluorescence-activated cell sorting, single cells are rapidly passed through a channel where they are optically analyzed and separated based on the specific light-scattering and fluorescent characteristics of each individual cell.

Related Term
- Cell-based assay: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14113

Source
- PAC, 2011, 83, 1129. 'Glossary of terms used in biomolecular screening (IUPAC Recommendations 2011)' on page 1140 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-09-05-03)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14133/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14133/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14133/xml

Citation: Citation: 'flow cytometry assay' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.14133
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Accessed: 2026-05-10T17:05:49+00:00