Analyzing Biological Drug Effect In 3D

Cell viability assays are commonly used in cell biology and drug discovery to characterize cell responses to endogenous and exogenous factors or substances, such as cytotoxic drugs and environmental changes Generally, cell viability is assessed using vital dyes, from which viability can be concluded either directly or indirectly. This method, although often used, is labor intensive and tedious. Automated alternatives include electric cell counters and flow cytometers which, although accurate, are associated with sophisticated equipment and high assay costs, and require technical expertise. As a result, fluorescence-based cellular assays are becoming increasingly popular, due to their sensitivity and versatility.

The Infinite M200 PRO offers enhanced fluorescence intensity reading for cell-based and biochemical applications, with a range of features designed to improve sensitivity and inter- /intra-well reproducibility. Functions such as orbital shaking, temperature control and enhanced fluorescence bottom reading with the optimal reading (OR) function ensure excellent performance and reliability.

To further improve the predictive power of in vitro cell-based assays, cell models have to mimic more closely the three dimensional (3D) structure of organs and tissues in vivo. Scaffold-based 3D cell culture approaches often suffer high background fluorescence, due to autofluorescence from the scaffold biomaterials. Scaffold-free microtissues are therefore ideally suited to this application, offering tissue-like structures while allowing researchers to take advantage of embedded fluorescent reporter technology.