Cell Based Assays
For basic biology, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals, scientists study systems in the most-natural conditions possible, and that includes tests done in whole cells. A wide range of cells can be grown in culture and then studied for their role in development, their part in disease and their reaction to a specific drug.
Cell-based assays can produce high-content results, data that cover more ground such as how a biochemical reaction works in its natural environment. Cells also make miniature laboratories for a range of topics, including studying a drug’s mechanism of action, tracking biochemical pathways, and many other areas of study.
Caliper offers a range of instruments to assist in automating cell based assays. Our Twister II Plate Handler processes up to 200-microliter samples in 96- and 384-well plates. For processes that take larger samples—up to 1,000 microliters—Caliper’s Sciclone G3 Liquid Handling Workstation can be used. For economy of space, our Zephyr Liquid Handler is our compact solution for cell-based applications.
Caliper also offers light producing cell lines, which are genetically engineered to emit light. For example, cancerous cell lines—breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, melanoma, ovarian, and prostate—can be used to quantify the tumor burden in a whole mouse, noninvasively detect micrometastases, and track the response to a treatment in longitudinal studies. Caliper also offers light producing cell lines for signal transduction/mechanism-based reporters related to oncogenesis and a human model of angiogenic signaling.
If a company wants a unique system for cell-based assays, we provide that with our Staccato Custom Series. Using a variety of Caliper tools—the Sciclone G3 liquid handler, the Twister II plate handler, our iLinkPro software, and so on—we design the system that provides optimal cell-based assays for a customer’s needs.
In addition to providing instruments for cell-based drug discovery, Caliper Discovery Alliances & Services (CDAS) provides assay contract services for many GPCR, ion channel and transport cellular assays—all the derived from human cell sources.
CDAS also provides whole-cell assays focusing on the immune system which triggers many disease-fighting processes, including the release of cytokines and chemokines. CDAS can study the effects of lead drug candidates in any of our human cytokine- and chemokine-release assays or we can develop a specialized program to help determine a compound’s impact on the immune system.
In addition to GPCR, transport, and immune-response cellular assays, CDAS offers cellular toxicity (proliferation, viability, mechanism-based cytotoxicity) and drug combination studies. Our SynScreen Drug Combination studies are designed to help research scientists identify synergistic responses of drug combinations and eliminate antagonistic mixtures of drugs. Drug combination studies are increasingly valuable to preclinical pharmaceutical research. The simultaneous use of a variety of drugs is common today for the treatment of bacterial infections, HIV, hypertension, and cancer. Consequently, drug-combination testing makes up a growing trend in many therapeutic areas.
For cell-based assays, Caliper develops tools to advance basic research and medicine. For example, drug-combination testing could lead to synergistic, or additive, lower doses that can be used to achieve the same or better efficacy as a higher does, yet produce lower toxicity. As a result, Caliper’s cell-based assay tools and services help companies move from compound discovery to new treatments.