The effect that a drug has on a cell needs to be studied, ultimately, in a cell. Despite the wealth of information that we can glean from molecular and biochemical studies, we really need to observe a drug’s mechanism of action in living cells or in vivo. “Getting closer to...
The landscape of cell culture looks much more vibrant these days. Gone is the bland horizon of a few traditional formulations. Now that scene most resembles a multicolored tableau of options that suit a multitude of uses and cell types. While classic reagents and tools still pervade laboratory shelves, the newest products provide...
The use of cell culture in clinical drug development is increasing rapidly due to the advancement of high content analysis techniques and increased large biomolecular therapies. Cell culture consumable requirements for clinical development are more rigorous than for pure research, and a few areas of unmet need remain. These needs include improved plates and wells...
Once upon a time, plasticwares for PCR were the same types of tubes used for any other procedure in the laboratory--nowadays, the marketplace offers plastics optimized for PCR use.
The microplate format was commercially introduced in the mid
1960’s as a handy and miniature replacement of high volume
test tubes. At that time, no one expected that this plate would
serve as a reliable format in screening applications. Based on
the well-established 96 well microplate, a new era of highthroughput
screening for miniaturized assays started in
1994/95 with the launch of 384 well microplates.
Disposable plastic lab ware is an essential aspect of modern
laboratory life. It is cost-effective, meets the highest hygienic
criteria, and offers a broad range of applications without
endangering users from breakage. Polystyrene (PS) and
polypropylene (PP) are the two most common polymeric
materials used for laboratory products, and this brochure is
intended to provide an overview of the chemical and thermal
properties of these materials as well as other important resins.
Immunological test procedures, especially enzyme linked
immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), are usually performed in
microplates made of polystyrene in routine laboratory practice.
Tightly sealed microplates are a basic prerequisite for their
use in molecular biology, high-throughput screening, or cell
culture. Three different sealing methods are commonly used
at present:
In recent years cell culture has played an increasingly important
role in high-throughput screening applications. The impact of
cell culture data on drug discovery and subsequently on drug
development to the final product is highly significant.
Co-culture describes various techniques where different cell
populations are cultivated in close proximity in the same cell
culture environment. The applications of co-cultures are multifacetted
and include:
Time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer
(TR-FRET) has become a popular technique in the field of
high-throughput screening. Its popularity is mainly due to the
high sensitivity1, the lack of any radioactive reagents and the
health and safety issues these cause. TR-FRET is based on
the transfer of photons between a lanthanide complex, the
donor to a suitable acceptor, when they are in close proximity.
The lanthanide donor complex exhibits a long fluorescence
lifetime with a shallow signal decay curve. When this donor
complex is excited by a pulsed light source, e.g. flash lamp or
fluorometer laser, its extremely long lifetime allows the separation
of this signal from the light emitted by other fluorophores with
a normal, shorter lifetime (Fig. 1). Together with the large
Stoke’s shift of the lanthanides fluorescence and the ratiometric
nature of the readout, interference from false-positive arising
from autofluorescent compounds in the screening collection is
drastically reduced2.