title: Estimation of membrane potentials of individual lymphocytes by flow cytometry.
abstract: The membrane potentials of individual cells can be estimated by flow cytometric quantitation of the cells' uptake of the fluorescent lipophilic cationic dye 3,3'-dihexyloxacarbocyanine iodide. Human lymphocytes separated from peripheral blood on Hypaque-Ficoll gradients are uniformly depolarized by gramicidin and hyperpolarized by valinomycin. Concanavalin A and phytohemagglutinin depolarize only a fraction of the lymphocytes. The flow cytometric technique allows precise detection of heterogeneous membrane potential responses to stimuli such as lectins; it could also provide a basis for sorting cells that respond differently to a given stimulus.
mesh_terms: D002412:Cations; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods; D004396:Coloring Agents; D006096:Gramicidin / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D037102:Lectins / Q000494:pharmacology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D014634:Valinomycin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D002412:Cations; D004396:Coloring Agents; D037102:Lectins; D006096:Gramicidin; D014634:Valinomycin