Acquisition of a BD FACSymphony S6 Cell Sorter

The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center Stem Cell Medicine is housed within the University of Copenhagen. The Center was launched 1st of January 2022 by funding through the Novo Nordiks Foundation and will drive translational research within the field of Stem Cell Medicine. The center operates Nodes in three different countries, but this transparency note is specific and restricted to the Node residing at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

We are planning to buy a BD FACSymphony S6 cell sorter in a combination with a Lamiar Airflow cabinet and with a special integration of inhouse build controller and luminator for optogenetics, an inhouse build improved sheath loading and sterilization devices, the integration of a inhouse build low volume and quick sample injection device, and the integration of an inhouse owned 445nm laser into the S6 system. The S6 cell sorter will be the legacy replacement of the previous BD FACS AriaIII cell sorter owned by the institute and operated by more than 25 fully independent users. The S6 instrument will serve cell sorting campaign based around stem cell isolation and the purification of early, intermediate, and late stage differentiated cell lineages from animal or human origin. Additionally, the S6 sorter will enable the Flow Cytometry Platform at the Stem Cell Center to offer non-fixed sorting for human tissue samples stemming from clinical collaborations. The S6 cell sorter will bridge the necessity of offering important legacy poly-chromatic cell sorting abilities established on the FACS AriaIII series instrument with the possibility to offer spectral deconvolution within the S6 electronics and DiVa operating system.

The purchase of the S6 cell sorter represents an upgrade and a new acquisition. The Stem Cell Center and is highly dependent on a smooth transition of our cell sorting operations onto a newer platform while causing no interruption to our ongoing operations. All assays within the center have been established and optimized physically and by assay type to the Aria type cuvette sorter. The center has additional and significant modifications to the Aria type sorter with inhouse build components specified for this type of sorter which can be transferred to the identical build on the to be bough S6 cell sorter as the required physical parts are of the same build and configuration as in the current AriaIII.

The stem cell center has a multiple long-running legacy protocols within gene-editing of murine stem cells and mouse line generation in collaboration with the Transgenic Mouse Facility. A change in the underlying technology would force the Transgenic Mouse Facility to validate their service portfolio and hinder their provision of service.

The stem cell center has a multiple long-running legacy protocols within stem cell isolation and cultivation where methods of isolation and cultivation have been adapeted to the product stemming from the cuvette based Aria cell sorter brand. The platform has to ensure the continuity of these protocols to allow researchers to integrate their legacy data in the future.

The intended procurement complements the existing FACS AriaIII system in our facility. The new system must be identical to these to enable internal comparability, data reproducibility as well as alignment with existing systems, experimental procedures, including the ability to split in a 445nm Laser simultaneously for the same study - in order to avoid bias caused by similar but not identical systems. It is furthermore essential to enable the use of the same nozzles, pressures, cleaning protocols and other accessories already purchased with the existing system to avoid purchasing unnecessary extra (similar but not identical) equipment and to enable the logistics in the core facility.