Quantitative flow cytometry using quantitative streptavidin-protein G-biotin beads (qBeads)

Maitreyi Bharath; Anh Le; Vaishnavi Konda; Shivika Srivastava; Mark Beliaev; Mengbing Chen; Anand George; Andy Zhang; Sophie Tan; Eben Ginto; Aaditya Awatiger; Kushagra Bahuguna; Vienna Li; Suditi Kedambadi; Xiaolin Cao; Hao Zeng; Guofei Xiong; Mihika Prabhu; Ayana Modi; Yanlan Wang; John Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jim.2025.113883

Quantitative flow cytometry using quantitative streptavidin-protein G-biotin beads (qBeads)

J Immunol Methods. 2025 May 31:542:113883. doi: 10.1016/j.jim.2025.113883. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Maitreyi Bharath¹, Anh Le¹, Vaishnavi Konda¹, Shivika Srivastava¹, Mark Beliaev¹, Mengbing Chen², Anand George¹, Andy Zhang¹, Sophie Tan¹, Eben Ginto¹, Aaditya Awatiger¹, Kushagra Bahuguna¹, Vienna Li¹, Suditi Kedambadi¹, Xiaolin Cao², Hao Zeng², Guofei Xiong², Mihika Prabhu¹, Ayana Modi¹, Yanlan Wang³, John Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological and Life Sciences, Aspiring Scholars Directed Research Program, United States of America.
² Department of Research and Development, Hangzhou HuaAn McAb Biotechnology Co. Ltd, China.
³ Pathology Department, Stanford University School of Medicine, United States of America. Electronic address: wangylan@stanford.edu.
⁴ Department of Biological and Life Sciences, Aspiring Scholars Directed Research Program, United States of America. Electronic address: John.wang@asdrp.org.

PMID: 40456385
DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2025.113883

Abstract

Quantitative flow cytometry (qFCM) is a powerful approach for the precise measurement of cellular and molecular characteristics, offering significant advantages in biomedical research, clinical diagnostics, and therapeutic applications. However, current qFCM beads, relying on chemical conjugation face several limitations. This study explored the use of streptavidin-coated beads with a defined quantity of Protein G-biotin for quantitative flow cytometry, demonstrating that these quantitative streptavidin-Protein G-biotin beads (qBeads) can be used for qFCM analysis through both direct and indirect methods, enabling the development of standardized assays for a wide range of applications.

Keywords: Flow cytometry; Protein G-biotin; Quantitative; Streptavidin-protein G-biotin; qFCM beads.