ABSTRACT
Flow cytometry is a multiparameter single-cell assay ubiquitous in HIV/AIDS clinical and research settings for evaluating the immune response to the virus, therapy, and vaccination. In clinical practice, flow cytometry is used to monitor the CD4 and CD8 T cell counts of HIV-infected subjects. After sample collection and processing, cells in solution labeled by fluorescent dyes are streamed in a cytometer for excitation by multiple lasers, and light scattered from cells and emitted from the relaxation of fluorescent molecules into their resting state is collected via optical detectors and recorded electronically. Because different fluorochromes can emit light with overlapping wavelengths, preprocessing using single-stained samples is necessary to subtract the spillover and recover the true signal from each fluorochrome. In automated analysis, the goal is usually to develop a computational pipeline from raw data to cell counts or relative frequencies. With rapid technological advancements the potential for flow cytometry to contribute to insights in HIV/AIDS is as great as ever.
