Cytometry Core Facility – CytoMed

Julien Cherfils-Vicini (PhD), Scientific manager

The cytometry Core Facility, CytoMmed, was created in 2012 by Julien Cherfils-Vicini. CytoMed provides know-how, knowledge and access to state of the art flow cytometry technologies. It is open to all IRCAN members, as well as to external academic or non-academic members of the scientific community. CytoMed is located in PEMED PCV since April 2022. The overall objectives of CytoMed are to propose to Ircanians and more generally to the scientific community a:

  • State-of-the-art technologies
  • Innovative protocols and procedures,
  • Realisation of cell sorting for the community 
  • Assistance, advice, and training to the users in the development of their experiments  
  • Training of people and formation of student
  • Locale, regional and national diffusion of knowledge and know-how
  • A L2 dedicated space for cell preparation and cell culture
  • A L2 dedicated area for cell sorting
  • A L1 dedicated area for facs staining and analysis
  • Sorting area in L2
  • Analyzing Area in L1
  • Working space – office
  • Dedicated L2 Culture room

The CytoMed staff :

  • Julien Cherfils-Vicini (PhD) as Scientific head of CytoMed
  • Ludovic Cervera, Inserm IE, at 50%
  • Emanuela Repetto, UCA AI, at 20%
  • Thamila Zamoum, UCA IE, at 20%

During these last 5 years, CytoMed has particularly implicated in the training of the permanent staff implicated in the management of CytoMed. CytoMed has notably trained:

  • Nadira Lagha as IE INSERM and who helped CytoMed for 1 year. She is currently cytometry referent in a private company of the region.
  • Julian Contet as AI UCA who helped CytoMed for 3 years. He is currently managing a cytometry department in a research center in Australia.
  • Emanuela Repetto, also trained in cytometry by CytoMed and assist users since 3 years now.

In addition to these staff members, CytoMed has also trained a student (Thyninane Hamidouche) for her professional Master 2 in alternation (1 month in Paris for theoretical courses in Master 2 of Platform Engineer and 1 month in Cytomed over 12 months) thanks to a contract supported by the CNRS obtained after national call for project. Thyninane was able to develop a project of methodological development of a protocol for the analysis of DNA lesions and senescence markers in a multiplexed methods using image cytometry (ImagestreamX).

Main users of CytoMed

CytoMed provide flow cytometry analysis, cell sorting, assisted cell suspension preparation or imaging flow cytometry. In addition to IRCAN’s teams, CytoMed also perform analysis (with and without CytoMed staff) for teams of the campus including TIRO (CEA), LP2M and iBV. In addition to the campus teams, we also provide access to our technology for other institute of Nice including C3M, INRIA but also Observatoire de Villefranche for which we develop specific protocol of cell analysis, flow imaging and cell sorting dedicated to marine organisms. We also collaborate with Centre Scientific de Monaco for which we performed cell sorting or with academic teams in Lyon and Bordeaux.

CytoMed running rules

Main events concerning Cytomed are presented every 6 months to its internal advisory board, composed of the cytomed staff, and representing person from all institutes present in the Pasteur tower that can use CytoMed (iBV, LP2M, IRCAN, CEA). A CytoMed staff also present the current situation of the platform to each lab council to inform Ircanians.

To have access to the platform:

  • For cell sorting (BioSorter ou Aria III) that required CytoMed staff: after a request by email, a first appointment is fixed to discuss about sample preparation, staining and panel design. When the user is ready, a schedule is fixed with the staff to perform the sort. Sorters are not accessible autonomously.
  • For CytoFlex, ImagestreamX, Seahorse, GentleMACS, MultiMACS: each user is trained to use these apparatus. After training, validation by CytoMed staff and agreement by the user of CytoMed rules (signature of the CytoMed Charte), users are authorised to book online on CytoMed reservation website the apparatus.
  • Supported technologies and main evolution over the last five years

CytoMed has considerably evolved over the last 5 years.

2 cell sorters :

A BD FACS ARIA III (5 lasers, 18 colors simultaneously) that allow us the main cell sorting activity for the community (from 1 to 4 ways simultaneously or in all plate format, single cell cloning, living assay…) but also high-throuput multi color flow cytometry (until 18 colors simultaneously, 16 colors panels are running in routine now)

Union Biometrica Biorter (2 lasers, 3 colors) that allow us the sorting of large particles from 10µM to 2,000µM including large cell mass (kidney glomerules, pancreatic islet, neurosphere…), fragile cells (adipocytes, neurons…) or small model organisms (Nematostella, zebrafish larvae, nematodes…).