Category: Cell Assays

Transwell assays are a mainstay in cell biology research and are instrumental in studying cellular migration and cell invasion.

A permeable membrane simulates a cellular barrier. If cells migrate through it then these can be stained, for instance with crystal violet, and kept at room temperature. This will be in a 24-well plate. The membrane then needs to be cleaned with distilled water before the migratory cells can be calculated. 

With that completed, an assessment can be made about cell fixation compared to how many cells have migrated. Through this process, transwell assays can provide insights into the mechanisms of cancer cells and their metastasis. It can also offer an understanding of tissue repair and cellular communication.

This article provides an in-depth analysis of transwell assays, examining their advantages, limitations, and exploring alternative methodologies.

Cell migration is a fundamental process in a variety of biological phenomena. This includes embryonic development, tissue regeneration, immune responses, and cancer metastasis. Understanding cell migration mechanisms is crucial for advancing therapeutic strategies in wound healing, immune therapies, and cancer treatment. Cell migration assays can help with the examination of the migratory responses of cells under various conditions. 

This blog post delves into the methodology of conducting a cell migration assay. It focuses on the scratch assay, one of the most common and straightforward methods to assess cell migration in vitro.

In a groundbreaking study by scientists in Italy and France, the antitumor effects of table grape extracts were brought into the spotlight. Employing the innovative Oris Cell Migration Assay, this research offers new hope in the fight against cancer, particularly colon carcinoma.

In the dynamic realm of biological research, cell assays are critical tools to unravel the mysteries residing at the cellular and molecular levels. These assays, pivotal in drug discovery, toxicology, and various other fields, are meticulously designed to gauge cellular responses under various conditions. However, the pathway to garnering precise and reliable results is often strewn with unforeseen hurdles. A slight deviation in protocol or a minuscule contamination can lead to an assay failure, rendering hours of labor and resources down the drain.

In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the top 5 reasons that lead to cell assay failures. By understanding these common pitfalls, researchers can arm themselves with the requisite knowledge to navigate around these issues, thereby bolstering the accuracy and reliability of their results. So, whether you’re a seasoned researcher or a novice in the field, understanding these factors can significantly ramp up the success rate of your cell assays.

Related: Protocol for Cell Migration Assay

The exciting realm of mesenchymal-to-endothelial transition (MEndoT), though controversial, is an area of research that could radically transform our approach to treating cardiovascular diseases. Key to this is understanding the potential role of fibroblasts – a type of cell known for its role in tissue homeostasis and disease – in the formation of new blood vessels. In this journey of discovery, the Oris Universal Cell Migration Assembly kit has proven to be a critical tool.

Aneurysms are potentially life-threatening conditions caused by thinning of the blood vessels, allowing the arteries to bulge out abnormally. To elucidate the molecular underpinnings of congenital aneurysms, researchers have turned to cell migration assays, employing them as valuable tools in their investigations. This blog post explores the findings from such studies.

Cell-based assays are crucial for analyzing cell health, cytotoxicity, invasion, migration,  and many other biological and drug-discovery applications and cancer research. A cell invasion assay is one of many different types of assays. It measures cell movement across extracellular boundaries and how single cells respond to various chemo-attractants. This blog post will provide an overview of the critical benefits of cell invasion assays. 

Wound healing assays measure cell migration over a two-dimensional (2D) monolayer. As cell migration takes place throughout numerous physiological processes, it has been studied in a variety of contexts from tissue injury, wound healing, cancer metastasis and more. Throughout the following post, we will explain the applications of wound healing assays and the importance of each.

Many biomedical research projects revolve around analysis of the cell. Information about cell types, cell proliferation, cell count, and cell migration is critical to advancing disease treatment and health studies. To extract this knowledge, scientists rely on various types of assays that focus on characterizing a specific property or function of target cell types. This blog post will provide a brief overview of the difference between invasion and cell migration assays, with an emphasis on cell migration assays from Platypus Technologies.

Cell culture surfaces are surfaces on which cells are grown under controlled conditions away from their natural environment. The cells under investigation are isolated from the tissue and are sustained and preserved under carefully controlled conditions. 

The History of Cell Culture Surfaces

In the past century, cell culture, growth, and differentiation have moved from fringe experiments to a widely used bioproduction tool. In this time, the cell culture surfaces themselves have evolved as the research requirements adjust. 

Cell migration is an extremely important cellular process. It is the directed movement of a group of cells or a single cell when responding to chemical and mechanical signals. This fundamental process takes place throughout life and continues until death, contributing to pathogenic states in disease. This article will outline the key steps of the process and how they work.

Wound healing assays are standard in vitro methods of probing collective cell migration in two dimensions. In wound healing assays, a cell-free area is formed in a confluent monolayer using physical exclusion or taking away the cells from the area via thermal, chemical, or mechanical damage. It is exposure to this cell-free area that leads to cells migrating into the gap.

Developing a new medicine and bringing it to market is a long, difficult and expensive process. This process begins with drug discovery:  the unearthing of promising compounds which demonstrate some beneficial biological effect. Compound screening is the primary method by which initial drug discovery is carried out.

A research article from China Medical University investigated how a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) known as HOTAIR contributes to the development of endometriosis.

Cell migration assays allow scientists and researchers to measure cell migration patterns. Platypus Technologies Oris Pro cell migration assays support many different cell types with extracellular matrix coated wells. In addition, Oris stoppers can be used to create cell free detection zones.

In a new research study from Tokyo Medical and Dental University in Japan, scientist investigated the influence of chronic inflammation on infectious phenotypes encountered with ulcerative colitis (UC), a disease of the bowels.  

Cell migration is an extremely complex phenomenon. A motile single cell, or multicell aggregate, that penetrates through the extracellular matrix of neighboring tissues can be described as invasive. Cells grouped into coherent sheets, strands, or tubes may undergo a form of collective cell migration governed by tight intercellular connections. The former mechanism is characteristic of metastatic growth, while the latter is associated with wound healing. How can seemingly similar cellular mechanisms result in such dramatically different outcomes?

Platypus Technologies is a fast-growing provider of cell migration assays for precise and reproducible experimentation, from academia to the pharmaceutical sector. Our core competency revolves around the cell exclusion zone technology, an innovative, high-throughput cellular assay with real-time monitoring capabilities, and negligible margins of error. This represents a significant step forward for researchers in various clinical fields.

Dynamic cellular migration is of interest to biochemists in various areas of research and development (R&D). This process refers to the movement of individual cells or cellular clusters from one location to another, typically in response to some chemical or mechanical signal. Pharmaceutical companies have been particularly invested in studying cell migration and invasion as these processes underlie an extremely wide range of pathological phenomena – thus offering significant promise for generating valuable pharmacological interventions.

Understanding cellular invasion and migration is important for studying a wide range of biological processes. By observing the directed rate of movement of cells in response to chemical or mechanical signals, researchers can investigate processes as varied as metastasis and wound healing. Historically, this has proven difficult due to a lack of efficient and reproducible methods for quantitatively assessing cell migration.