What method is commonly used to investigate and quantify populations of interest in flow cytometry?

In flow cytometry, gating is a crucial method used to investigate and quantify specific populations of interest within a complex sample. The gating process involves defining specific boundaries or regions on a scatter plot, or other data visualization, that encapsulate the characteristics of the target cell populations based on various parameters such as size, granularity, and fluorescence intensity.

Once the gates are established, the flow cytometer can analyze thousands of cells per second, allowing for the rapid collection of data on the frequency and other characteristics of the cells that fall within those predefined gates. This means that researchers can effectively isolate populations of interest from a heterogeneous mixture of cells, making it an essential tool for studies in immunology, hematology, and cell biology.

Microscopic imaging, while useful for visualizing cells, does not allow for the rapid quantification of cell populations like flow cytometry. Cell sorting, although related, generally refers to the process of physically separating cells based on specific characteristics rather than simply analyzing or quantifying them. Western blotting is a technique used to detect specific proteins in a sample and does not pertain to the analysis of cell populations as done in flow cytometry.