What is Intracellular Cytokine staining?
With increased interest in cytokine regulation of cellular growth and differentiation, many investigators are turning to methods for analyzing cytokine production. Most methods involve measuring the amount of secreted cytokines present in serum or supernatant. In addition to requiring longer activation times, these methods do not enable the investigator to determine the phenotypes of the cytokine-producing cells. Intracellular staining system measures the expression of cytokines within cells. The aim of intracellular cytokine staining is to make use of the rapid flow cytometric analysis of cells to provide both surface phenotype and intracellular cytokine content of single cells within a population of cells responding to antigenic or mitogenic stimulation. The technique initially requires fixation of cells in paraformaldehyde, which cross-links proteins and prevents their loss through leakage. Secondly, permeabilization of cellular membranes with a detergent generates gaps in the membr
