Automation Of Cell Staining

By Amy N. Yoder and Li Liu, Beckman Coulter Life Sciences

Automation with the Biomek 4000 platform can improve the throughput and reproducibility of conventional staining of adherent cells. Applicability is demonstrated using mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) to detect the expression of developmental antigens in fixed cells following differentiation to cardiomyocytes which is relevant to stem cell biology research. The cardiomyocyte model resembles approaches used for the differentiation of other cell types. Automation protocols using the Biomek 4000 Laboratory Automation Workstation were developed using PerFix-nc fixation and permeabilization reagents with a no-wash protocol that provide a well resolved and reproducible detection of intracellular markers in murine embryonic stem cells and differentiated cardiomyocytes.