Creative Bioarray’s FLIPR High-Throughput Cellular Screening System is a simultaneous pipette and read system that supports fast kinetic cellular assays. It can be configured to match specific user needs including screening format, detection mode and assay target.
The setup screen allows the user to select a plate from the 96 or 384-well deck. This is the plate where the assay will be run. Here is what you should know about FLIPR assays and various screenings:
Membrane Potential Assays
Membrane permeability is a crucial target for antimicrobial compounds which unfold their antibiotic activity by disrupting the membrane. Membrane permeability can be measured using several methods, including spectrophotometry and microscopic imaging.
Typical assays involve the use of membrane permeable fluorescent dyes to measure changes in calcium flux or membrane potential. The resulting fluorescence signal can be analysed with a standard fluorescence plate reader.
The FLIPR system at Creative Bioarray has been used to develop a simple and highly reliable fluorescence assay for measuring calcium and potassium responses, as well as ion channel drug screening.
Kinetic Assays
Modern optical screening assays demand high data throughput and uncompromised data fidelity. FLIPR Tetra delivers on both fronts with its integrated pipettor capabilities that allow a series of compounds to be added sequentially to the plate to detect agonist, antagonist, and allosteric modulators.
Increasing substrate concentration increases the reaction rate, up to a point where the enzyme becomes saturated (vmax = Km). At this point, the reaction will plateau regardless of how much more substrate is added.
Drug Screening
Drug screening is a key component of the drug discovery process. A doctor may request a urine drug test in the event they suspect you are using substances that could be harmful to yourself or others. These include ethyl alcohol, amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine and its metabolite, opiates, narcotics and tranquilizers.
The FLIPR Tetra instrument enables high throughput G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) and ion channel screening assays without the need for cell washing. In these assays, cells expressing the target GPCR are loaded with fluorescent calcium-sensitive dyes and triggered via a Gq protein to generate intracellular Ca2+ flux. The resulting signal is detected by a fluorescence plate reader.
Immunoassays
Immunoassays (IAs) are biochemical tests that detect the presence or concentration of a specific analyte. These are important bioanalytical tools that help improve disease treatments, ensure food and water safety and advance biological research.
IAs use antibodies or other molecules that bind to an analyte. These are then measured using a color signal that is proportional to the amount of antigen bound. These can be read by the naked eye (as in a home pregnancy test), with a scintillation counter (for radio-immunoassay, RIA) or using a spectrophotometric plate reader (e.g., EIA).