This is the most commonly asked question. To answer it we need to know the following information:
- What is the approximate percentage of the population(s) you wish to sort?
- How many total cells do you want back?
- Do you want stringent purification or enrichment?
- How fragile or large are your cells?
All of these parameters influence the yield and purity of cell sorting. Here is an example: Let’s say the subset you want sorted is 20% of the total and you need 2 million cells for your experiment. In theory you would need to run 10 million cells through the sorter (10 million x 20% = 2 million). However, the actual yield is usually 75-95% of this theoretical yield, due to abort rates (caused by sort conflicts) and also the quality of your sample.
Therefore, we recommend that you bring 25-50% more cells to the sorter than you would need if the actual yield were 100% (based on the abundance of your target cells).