Cell cycle refers to the set of events through which a cell grows, replicates its genome, and ultimately divides into two daughter cells through the process of mitosis. Because the amount of DNA in a cell shows characteristic changes throughout the cycle, techniques known as cell cycle analysis can be used to separate a population of cells according to the different phases of cell cycle they are in, based on their varying DNA content.

This video will cover the principles behind cell cycle analysis via DNA-staining. We will review a generalized protocol for performing this staining using bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU, a thymidine analog that is incorporated into newly synthesized DNA strands) and propidium iodide (PI, a DNA dye that stains all DNA), followed by analysis of the stained cells with flow cytometry. During flow cytometry, a single cell suspension of fluorescently labeled cells is passed through an instrument with a laser beam and the fluorescence of each cell is read. We will then discuss how to interpret data from flow cytometric scatter plots, and finally, look at a few applications of this technique.