The CYTOO assay development advantage

Physiologically-relevant cellular models

Micropatterning controls cell microenvironment: it enables to choose from several adhesion molecules and attachment areas and geometries, cell densities, and promotes cell-cell junctions. In turn, the physical and biochemical cues received by cells change their genomic transcription and thus their phenotype. The resulting benefits are:

• More mature cells
• Control over cell fate (differentiation)
• Increased sensitivity to drugs
• Capacity to analyze novel enzymatic activities, biological processes, signaling pathways, and biomarkers

Standardized cell culture

Micropatterning standardizes cell morphology, size, polarity, and cell number, with cellular attachment at predetermined locations on a plate. Cell growth is fully controlled over the x, y and z axes. Unlike 3D hydrogel and structural scaffolds, micropatterning allows controlled cell growth in a plane or quasi plane axis. The resulting benefits are:

• All assays are fully compatible with HCA
• Increased Z’ (low CV)
• Increased speed of visual data acquisition
• High levels of automation for complex assays
• Innovative and robust single cell read-outs

Why micropatterning?

Micropatterns provide a substrate which allows cells to uniformly polarize onto any preferred cellular matrix. The microenvironment of the cells is tightly controlled allowing for organelle and membrane alignment which more effectively reproduces in vivo phenotype and morphology.

Unlike the use of hydrogel and structural scaffolds for 3D cell culture, micropatterning allows controlled cell growth in a plane or quasi plane z axis. Since cells grow at defined locations in the wells on the micropatterns, it allows easy, fast and robust image acquisition. Combined with micropattern induced cell structure standardization – which tremendously decreases morphological variability – the success of developing a high-throughput compatible assay is much higher.

Comparison of CYTOO solutions with conventional and 3D cultures

CYTOO has expertise in the development of HCS assays and drug screening in:

• Toxicology (heart, liver, kidney, muscle, neurons)
• Muscle hypertrophy drug screening
• Cancer drug profiling on 3D spheroids
• EMT
• Angiogenesis
• Cell motility
• Cosmeceuticals screening
• Cell contractility and elasticity
• Neurology drug discovery
• Heart fibrosis
• Phenotypic screening