Rapid preparation of multiple cell samples for immunofluorescence analysis using microtiter plates.

A method is described which allows incubation, washing and staining of cells for immunofluorescence analysis to be carried out in microtiter plates. Comparison of this procedure with the conventional protocol, carried out on normal and leukemic human peripheral blood cells, reveals 5 major advantages. (1) Only 2.5 X 10(5) viable cells are needed for testing a particular antiserum. (2) The amount of reagents needed is 1/4 of that used in the conventional method. (3) Damage to cells is reduced to a minimum by shorter processing times and gentler centrifugation steps. (4) A large number of samples can be processed at the same time in an identical and reproducible manner. (5) The cost of an experiment is considerable reduced.