ABSTRACT
Imaging flow cytometry (IFC) results from a combination of conventional cytometry with microscopy: cells are run in flow and excited with lasers, while charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras with time delay integration (TDI) technology acquire images from the flowing events. Before performing an IFC experiment, one should first of all think whether and how will quantification of a large number of imaging parameters be useful and also whether the events to analyze can be run in flow. The chapter discusses some studies that have used IFC to study morphology, protein location such as trafficking, internalization, and protein colocalization, and cell-cell interactions. Intercellular communication occurs when two cells come together, and involves different steps, which may include cell adhesion, protein reorganization/accumulation at the intercellular contact, activation of signaling pathways, secretion, and signaling termination. The interest in IFC has been steadily increasing due to the easiness to perform quantitative image analysis in a large number of cells.
