Immune Cell Biology Program, Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20889-5055.
The use of flow cytometry for the study of lymphocyte activation and cellular metabolism continues to expand. This has permitted rapid progress in the understanding of the regulation of multiple intracellular ions, metabolic pathways, and the control of gene expression. Knowledge of these basic mechanisms of cellular homeostasis is now being applied to the flow cytometric study of immune dysregulation. Various flow cytometric techniques for measuring apoptosis are summarized.