While we are taught to never judge a book by its cover, covers may actually be revealing. In the case of a cell, the surface proteins on its “cover” are unique to particular cell types: for example, CD3 for T cells and CD19 for B cells. With such markers in hand, populations of cells can be classified into the cell types they contain, in particular using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis with a panel of antibodies. |