Latest Publications in Cytometry Part A You Should Not Miss

Service © 2008 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg Accessible online at: www.karger.com/tmh Fax +49 761 4 52 07 14 E-mail [email protected] www.karger.com Transfus Med Hemother 2008;35:135–138 Latest Publications in Cytometry Part A You Should Not Miss Selected by Attila Tárnok, Leipzig, Germany Measuring Bad Iron Proper iron supply is important for health; deficiency or excess are involved in diseases (e.g., iron-deficient anemia or ironoverload, respectively). Although most iron is firmly bound (e.g., in hemoglobin), some – the labile iron pool (LIP) – is more loosely bound to various ligands. The latter iron is involved in generation of oxidative radicals and their deleterious consequences. The level of LIP in cells is regulated to meet their requirements for iron but prevent excess. Prus and Fibach describe a multi-parameter flow cytometry procedure for measuring LIP in human blood cells. Since flow cytometry is a standard methodology in many clinical laboratories, the novel procedure has potential for evaluating LIP in various diseases and for determining the efficacy of iron-chelation therapy. Prus E, Fibach E: Flow cytometry measurement of the labile iron pool in human hematopoietic cells. Cytometry A 2008;73A (1):22–27. DOI: 10.1002/cyto.a.20491 Human Sperm DNA Fragmentation Results: Technique Dependent The TUNEL assay is a technique used to evaluate the DNA fragmentation in human sperm. The results of the technique can be evaluated using flow cytometry or optical microscopy but are usually reported using only one of the two methods. However, the results obtained using each of these two approaches are different. Thus, the comparison of the results described in the different articles has so far been difficult. Domínguez-Fandos and co-workers applied these two approaches in the same human sperm samples. Although they detected a clear positive correlation in the TUNEL results as measured by the two techniques, the percentage of TUNEL positive spermatozoa detected using flow cytometry was higher as compared to that detected in optical microscopy. This work should be valuable to compare the results described in independent TUNEL studies using either optical microscopy or flow cytometry. Domínguez-Fandos D, et al: Human sperm DNA fragmentation: Correlation of TUNEL results as assessed by flow cytometry and optical microscopy. Cytometry A 2007;71A(12): 1011–1018. DOI: 10.1002/cyto.a.20484 Interpreting the Sugar Code of Dying Cells Death is not the final destiny of cells in multicellular organisms: the corpses must be cleared by neighboring-cell or professional phagocytes. During this process moribund cells have the last chance to attract attention: they signal all-clear or danger, provoking anti-inflammation and tolerance or inflammation and immune response, respectively. These signals are ‘interpreted’ by various soluble adaptor proteins and surface receptors. However, the molecular nature of the ‘translators’ and the ‘signals’ is not yet fully identified. Based on the emerging concept of the sugar code, Beer and co-workers reasoned that cell surface glycans and endogenous tissue lectins are involved in this communication. Indeed, they revealed specific interaction processes by systematically testing this hypothesis using human lectins of the galectin family. Beer A, et al: Human galectins as sensors for apoptosis/ necrosis-associated surface changes of granulocytes and lymphocytes. Cytometry A 2008;73A(2):139–147.DOI: 10.1002/