A better understanding of cellular responses in tissues in immune-mediated and chronic inflammatory disease is needed to identify novel disease drivers for design of better therapies. Mass cytometry has revolutionised the ability to profile a large number of parameters of immune cell function in tissues in health and disease. The cytometry time of flight (CyTOF) mass spectrometer provides the ability to quantitate tens of intracellular and extracellular parameters in single cells to simultaneously interrogate cellular phenotype and function in unprecedented detail.

The CyTOF mass cytometry facility is now being used at the Institute and across NDORMS to unravel the complex mechanisms underpinning disease in model systems, and to monitor the human immune response during chronic inflammatory disease and response to therapy. It is a crucial component of several large consortia and translational research programmes led by investigators at the Institute.