BD Pharmingen™ Stain Buffer (BSA)

Procedure for Using Pharmingen Stain Buffer (BSA) for the Direct Immunofluorescent Staining of Cells.

1.   Prepare single-cell suspensions from either lymphoid tissue, bone marrow, peripheral blood or cell cultures using standard protocols.

2.   Wash the cells twice in cold Pharmingen Stain Buffer (BSA) and pellet the cells by centrifugation (e.g., 300 x g at 4°C). Resuspend the cell

   pellet with cold Pharmingen Stain Buffer (BSA) to a final concentration of 2 x 10e7 cells/ml.

3.   Distribute 50 µl aliquots of the cell suspension (10e6 cells) to either tubes or the round-bottomed wells of microwell plates.

4.   Dilute fluorescent antibodies to their predetermined optimal concentrations in Pharmingen Stain Buffer (BSA) and add small aliquots

   (e.g., 10 µl) of the diluted antibodies to the tubes or microwells that contain the target cell suspensions. Incubate for 20 minutes on ice

   protected from light. Staining time may be increased (≥ 45 min) depending on the avidity of the fluorescent antibody.

5.   Wash the cells two times with either 200 µl (for microwell plates) or 1 ml (for tubes) volumes of Pharmingen Stain Buffer (BSA) to remove

   unbound antibodies. Centrifuge cells as 300 x g for 5 min. After each centrifugation, carefully aspirate (for microwell plates or tubes) or

   invert and blot away (for tubes) supernatants from cell pellets.

6.   Resuspend the cell pellet in either 200 µl (for microwell plates) or 0.5 ml (for tubes) volumes of Pharmingen Stain Buffer (BSA). Transfer

   stained cells from microwell plates to the appropriate tubes for flow cytometric analysis (adjust final volume to ~0.5 ml).

7.   Analyze stained cell samples either by flow cytometry or by fluorescence microscopy as soon as possible (e.g., ≤ 4 hours) after staining. If

   analysis must be delayed, then the stained cells can be fixed with buffered paraformaldehyde (e.g., Cytofix Buffer; Cat. No. 554657) and

   stored at 4°C (protected from light). The fixed cells should be analyzed as soon as possible (e.g., up to one week after staining and fixation).

Note 1: Pharmingen Stain Buffer (BSA) can similarly be used for the indirect immunofluorescent staining of cells. In this case, repeat steps 4 and 5 when using either unlabeled or biotinylated primary antibodies.

Note 2: Pharmingen Stain Buffer (BSA) can also be used for the immunofluorescent staining of surface antigens expressed by cells that are destined to be fixed and immunofluorescently stained for intracellular antigens such as cytokines (for details see reference #6 or the online protocols at our web site at www.bdbiosciences.com/pharmingen/protocols/ ). Cells stained for intracellular cytokines can be resuspended and maintained (i.e., at 4°C, protected from light) in Pharmingen Stain Buffer (BSA) prior to analysis by either flow cytometry or fluorescence microscopy

1. Please refer to www.bdbiosciences.com/us/s/resources for technical protocols.
2. Caution: Sodium azide yields highly toxic hydrazoic acid under acidic conditions. Dilute azide compounds in running water before discarding to avoid accumulation of potentially explosive deposits in plumbing.
3. Source of all serum proteins is from USDA inspected abattoirs located in the United States.