FRET causing misleading signal from fluorescein excited by the violet laser in flow cytometry

Multiple immunolabeling introduces high risks of interferences between fluorescences. As an example, in analyzing T cell clonality, we recently reported a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) effect providing an unexpected signal on B770 (PE-Cy7) detector, on the V & beta;-PE positive CD3 APC-Alexa750+ T cell subsets. Here, we report another FRET effect produced by the violet laser in V & beta;-FITC positive CD3-Pacific Blue (PB) T cells providing signal on V550 (Krome Orange; KrO) detector. The study was performed on fresh whole blood, labeled with anti-CD3-PB, CD8-KrO, Vbeta FITC, Vbeta PE, CD4 AA750 then fixed, treated for erythrolysis, and washed before analysis on DxFlex cytometer from Beckman Coulter. Data were analyzed using Kaluza software. Using this panel, we repeatedly observed an added CD8dim-KrO (V550) cell population on all V & beta; FITC positive T cells. The unexpected green signal excited by the violet laser was still observed after removing anti-CD8-KrO (FMO) but disappeared where either anti-CD3-PB or anti-V & beta;-FITC was removed. The effect was also observed with an anti-TCR gamma delta-FITC labeling, but not with another FITC labeled antibody targeting a protein out of the CD3-TCR complex. The analysis of fluorochrome spectra confirms that PB emission and FITC excitation spectra partly overlap. This observation clearly reminds users that FRET can give misleading results in case of labeling of very close markers with complementary fluorochromes. This risk has to be considered in panel design. These observations clearly highlight the potential for FRET to give misleading results in cases where very close markers are labeled with complementary fluorochromes. This risk must be considered when designing panels. To our knowledge, this is the first description of a FRET between PB and FITC as acceptor thus excited by the violet laser.

Automated summary

Multiple immunolabeling can lead to interference between different fluorescences. In this study, a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) effect was observed between PB and FITC, resulting in a signal on the V550 detector. This interference is caused by the partial overlap of the emission and excitation spectra of PB and FITC.