UltraComp eBeads™ Compensation Beads, 100 tests - FAQs

After staining, UltraComp eBeads Compensation Beads (Cat. No. 01-2222-41, 01-2222-42) are stable for up to 3 days if the samples are stored in a fixative. If the samples are stored in FACS buffer, they are stable for 1 week.

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It is possible. But if you have a lot of values over 100, you probably need to look at the voltages that you are using for your data collection.

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By running single-color controls, it is possible to remove signal of one fluorophore that spills over into the collection channel for another fluorophore.

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For compensation, you need to prepare a singly stained sample (or compensation beads) for each color parameter that you are using. In addition, we recommend that you use FMO (flow minus one) controls. These are controls in which you label cells or beads with every color in your panel, omitting one. Make one FMO control for each color. These controls are important for helping you properly set gates on your data.

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In a perfect world, the fluorescence emission profile for each individual fluorophore would be a very intense, narrow peak, well separated from all other emission peaks. In reality, organic dyes and fluorescent proteins have broad emission peaks, and compensation must be employed (during or after data acquisition) to correctly assign fluorescence signal to each fluorophore. Compensation is important because it removes fluorescent signal from overlapping spectra so you know that the signal you see is only the signal from the fluorophore of interest.

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All that you need for compensation controls is an unstained sample of your cells (or negative control beads) and samples with each of your fluorophores - one per tube. You want the single-stained controls to be as bright as you expect your brightest sample to be. Antibodies can be bound to beads instead of cells using our AbC Total Antibody Compensation Bead Kit (Cat. Nos. A10513 and A10497).

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UltraComp eBeads microspheres (Cat. No. 01-2222) are recommended for use with Super Bright dyes.
Note: Super Bright Staining Buffer (Cat. No. SB-4400) is not compatible with UltraComp eBeads microspheres (Cat. No. 01-2222-41, 00-2222-42). If using UltraComp eBeads microspheres as a compensation tool, solely use Flow Cytometry Stain Buffer (Cat. No. 00-4222-26, 00-4222-57) for any antibody dilutions.

In some experiments, we have observed that compensation values for Super Bright 780- and Brilliant Violet 785- or Brilliant Violet 786-conjugated antibodies are higher in the violet 450/50 channel when using UltraComp eBeads microspheres as compared to single-color stained cells. In such circumstances, we would recommend setting compensation with cells. We have also observed this in some experiments using AbC Total Antibody Compensation beads, both with Super Bright 780 and Brilliant Violet 786. We have not tested Brilliant Violet 785 with the AbC beads.

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