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Cyber Monday 2022

Curated product bundles from Slingshot Biosciences*

Buy SpectraComp®+ ViaComp®, Get 3 TruCytes™ Free!

Helping you increase your confidence in your data and speed to next decisions. Pair ready-to-use unmixing and viability controls and get biomarker mimics on us.

Buy SpectraComp® + ViaComp®, Get 30% Off!

Helping you skip the fuss and have time to spread some holiday cheer. Grab ready-to-use controls today.


Buy a Training Kit, Get SpectraComp® Free!

Helping you set your science up for success with a curated flow cytometry training kit. Learning simplified.


Introducing TruCytes™ : The Ready-to-Use Immunophenotyping Control for Cell Therapy, Flow Cytometry and Beyond

Are you a cell biologist, immunologist, or flow cytometrist? If so, you know how challenging it is to find quality control (QC) samples for your biomarker assays. 

This challenge is only heightened when working with rare diseases or rare biomarkers. The process of finding QC samples is not only time-consuming and incredibly costly but is sometimes impossible as well.  For these reasons, we’re excited to introduce TruCytes™. This ready-to-use immunophenotyping control eliminates the hassle and cost of isolating cells, working with a cell line, sourcing rare primary cells, or thawing frozen samples.  Let’s go into more detail about how TruCytes™ are designer cells, built to mimic key biomarkers of interest, and what makes them an ideal QC and process control for assays that have measured readouts using flow cytometry.

TruCytes™ are ‘designed’ to react, in an epitope-specific manner, with fluorescently tagged antibodies that recognize key surface markers in lymphocytes, monocytes, and granulocytes while providing an optical scatter profile that matches these fixed populations. These designer cells can be used as ready-to-use reference material to QC specific biomarkers of interest in a variety of different experiments such as antibody characterization studies or antigen quantitation studies—or both! Furthermore, TruCytes™ are NOT derived from biospecimens which means they don’t require any special disposal and they aren’t biohazardous either!

In addition to being used for flow cytometry applications, TruCytes™ are extensively used in cell therapy workflows.  We can also design for assay technologies outside of flow cytometry (e.g. immunohistochemistry)  so scientists can test their targets of interest against this robust gold standard across their workflows. 

TruCytes™ are designed to save scientists hours by eliminating the need to source their own QC samples. Instead of spending time finding QC samples that may not exist, or may fall short due to variance over time, scientists can now spend less time searching for QC samples and more time getting results. In addition, with our ready-to-use immunophenotyping control, scientists can easily quantify the level of target expression for a variety of antigens and receptors on human leukocyte subsets with greater accuracy than ever before.

At Slingshot, we understand the importance of time when it comes to scientific research; therefore, we have developed TruCytes™ as an ideal solution to eliminate wasted time spent sourcing quality control (QC) samples while still providing accurate results. Our ready-to-use immunophenotyping control comprises precision synthetic cells designed to mimic key biomarkers of interest, allowing scientists to test their targets against a robust gold standard quickly and effectively—all without requiring any special disposal due to it not being derived from biospecimens nor being biohazardous! For all your needs in QC sample searching and accuracy testing needs, look no further than our new product: TruCytes™!

Remove Dead Cells for Increased Accuracy

Even viability dyes need controls.  Don’t have time to “kill” a control for this?  Don’t worry- we have your back. 

Dead cells in flow cytometry add errors to data because they can bind nonspecifically to many reagents.  This non-specific binding gives rise to false positive results in flow cytometry. Therefore, identifying and removing data points representing dead cells is critical to ensure your results are accurate. This accuracy is crucial to applications like cell therapy which relies on viability to inform the appropriate dosing of the final product before it is delivered to patients.  ViaComp® viability controls mimic the characteristics of dead cells and can be used to support the validation and QC of most viability dyes on the market today.  This 2-in-1 bead binds to DNA intercalating dyes (7AAD, DAPI, PI) and amine-reactive viability dyes to simulate the staining of cells.

What are Dead Cells?

Dead cells are cells that have gone through cell death. There are two main types of cell death- necrosis and apoptosis. Necrosis is when a cell dies due to an external factor, such as injury or infection, while apoptosis is when a cell dies due to an internal factor, such as DNA damage, undergoing a programmed series of stages to complete the process. Both necrotic and apoptotic cells can bind nonspecifically to reagents, giving false positive results.

Why Are Dead Cells Problematic?

Removing data points representing dead cells is critical for flow cytometry data to be accurate. The problem with dead cells is that they can bind nonspecifically to many reagents, leading to false positive results. This means that your data could be inaccurate without you even knowing it! In addition, dead cells can also interfere with live cell events, further distorting your data. Data accuracy is especially crucial to applications like cell therapy which uses viability to inform accurate dosing of the final product before it is delivered to patients.  

How Can I Remove Dead Cells from My Data?

The best way to QC the removal of dead cells from your data is by using a ViaComp® viability control. This 2-in-1 bead simulates the staining of necrotic and apoptotic cells and can be used with most viability dyes on the market today. Using a ViaComp® viability control is an easy and efficient way to ensure that your results are accurate.

Dead cells can cause severe problems in flow cytometry data if they are not removed properly. The best way to QC the removal of dead cells is by using a ViaComp® viability control, which mimics the staining of both necrotic and apoptotic cells. Using a ViaComp® viability control is an easy and efficient way to ensure that your results are accurate.

SpectraComp® Cell Mimics - The Next Generation of Flow Cytometry Controls

If you work in cell biology or immunology field, chances are that you’re familiar with flow cytometry. This technique is used to measure and analyze biological cells by suspending them in a stream of fluid and passing them through a laser beam. In order to get accurate results from flow cytometry, it’s important to use controls for compensation on conventional instrumentation or for unmixing on newer spectral instrumentation.  However, there are many situations where sample limitations present challenges to running all of the necessary controls for an optimized experiment.  That’s where SpectraComp® cell mimics come in.

SpectraComp® cell mimics are a best-in-class control for spectral unmixing due to their tunable scatter and autofluorescence. This means that they can more accurately mimic the behavior of real cells, making them an invaluable tool for replacing precious samples which are often used as controls in spectral flow cytometry experiments. In addition, SpectraComp® cell mimics are much more accurate than traditional controls like polystyrene beads, which do not respond like cells. SpectraComp® cell mimics are a direct replacement for cells as controls, so you can save your cells for science instead of using them as controls.

Why Use Cell Mimics?

There are many reasons why you should use SpectraComp® cell mimics as your flow cytometry control of choice. First, as we mentioned before, cell mimics are much more efficient than traditional controls. You won’t need to sacrifice as many cells to get accurate results.  Second, cell mimics are tunable. We have adjusted their scatter and autofluorescence to better match cells. This allows cell mimics to outperform polystyrene comp beads ensuring more accurate results while enabling you to get the most information possible from your experiments. Finally, SpectraComp® cell mimics are easy to use and can be used with any standard flow cytometry protocol.

How to Use SpectraComp® Cell Mimics

Using SpectraComp® cell mimics is easy! Simply follow your standard flow cytometry protocol and substitute the appropriate number of SpectraComp® cell mimics for real cells in the control sections. Once your experiment is complete, you’ll have accurate results that you can trust.

SpectraComp® cell mimics are the next generation of flow cytometry controls for unmixing and compensation. If you’re looking for a control that is more efficient and easier to use, look no further! With tunable scatter and tunable autofluorescence, SpectraComp® is the best control choice for spectral unmixing. So save your cells for science and level up your controls today with SpectraComp®!

How to order:

Bundle 1: Add SpectraComp® , ViaComp® , and 3 TruCytes™ to your cart, and TruCytes™ will be at no charge.
Bundle 2: Add SpectraComp® and ViaComp® to your cart and get 30% off.
Bundle 3
Option A: Add Training Kit (10 test/kit) to your cart and SpectraComp® (100 test) to your cart, and get SpectraComp® Free.
OR
Option B: Add Training Kit (5 test/kit) and a SpectraComp® (25 test) to your cart and get SpectraComp® Free.

*Offer valid 11/28/2022 12:01AM – 12:59PM on orders placed through the slingshotbio.com website. One-time use per customer. Valid on orders for the US, Canada, Mexico, and other countries where Slingshot Biosciences directly supports.

See https://slingshotbio.com/worldwide-distribution/ for more information.