Absorbance

Cell Health

Cell viability refers to the number of healthy cells in a population and can be evaluated using assays that measure enzyme activity, cell membrane integrity, ATP production, and other indicators. These methods can employ luminescent, fluorescent, or colorimetric readouts as indicators of general cell viability or even specific cellular pathways. Cytotoxicity and cell viability assays are often used to assess a drug or other treatment’s effect, and are valuable tools in the search for new therapeutics, as well as advancing our understanding of how normal cells function.

Cell viability

Cell line development requires the discovery of single cell-derived clones that produce high and consistent levels of the target therapeutic protein. A critical first step in the process is the isolation of single, viable cells. Single cells proliferate to form colonies that can then be assessed for productivity of the target therapeutic protein. Viability and growth rates of single cell-derived clones can be characterized on the CloneSelect Imager and the SpectraMax i3x microplate reader and imaging cytometer.

Cellular Signaling

Cellular signaling allows cells to respond to their environment as well as to communicate with other cells. Proteins located on the cell surface can receive signals from the surroundings and transmit information into the cell via a series of protein interactions and biochemical reactions that comprise a signaling pathway. Multicellular organisms rely upon an extensive array of signaling pathways to coordinate the proper growth, regulation, and functioning of cells and tissues. If signaling between or within cells is dysregulated, inappropriate cellular responses may lead to cancer and other diseases.

Drug Discovery & Development

For every drug that makes it to the finish line, another nine don’t succeed. This alarming failure rate can be traced to reliance on 2D cell cultures that don’t closely mimic complex human biology, often leading to inaccurate predictions of a drug’s potential and extended drug development timelines.

ELISA

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) are used to measure the amount of a specific protein, using a microplate format, and results are most often detected via absorbance in the visible wavelength range. Chemiluminescent and fluorescent ELISA formats offer enhanced sensitivity for accurate quantitation of less abundant analytes.

IgG Quantification

In therapeutic protein engineering and cell line development, IgG quantification is the process of measuring the amount of immunoglobulin G (IgG), a common class of therapeutic proteins, produced by a genetically modified cell line. This is important for evaluating and monitoring the productivity of the cell line and selecting the best candidate for further development of therapeutic antibodies.

Luminescence

Microbiology and Contaminant

Microbes, including bacteria, have been estimated to make up about 15 percent of the earth’s biomass, and microbes in the human body outnumber human cells by 10 to 1. These microorganisms provide great benefit to us and are also vital to many fields of research from medicine to alternative energy production. On the other hand, monitoring for microbes and the toxic substances they produce is necessary to ensure the safety of pharmaceutical products. Scientists whose research relies on mammalian cells must carefully monitor these cultures for unwanted microbial contaminants to ensure that their experimental results are reliable.