FDSS uCELL Functional Drug Screening System

· GPCRs
GPCRs (G protein-coupled receptors) play a major role in cell signaling, and many GPCR-targeted medical drugs have been developed. FDSS/μCELL is capable of detecting messengers, such as Ca2+ and cAMP, which are major contributors to the GPCR signaling system by using fluorescence and luminescence probes. FDSS/μCELL allows simultaneous dispensing and kinetic measurement of compounds in whole microplate wells, thus realizing high throughput screening.
Ca2+ measurement: Fluo-4, Fluo-8, Cal-520, Aequorin
cAMP measurement: Glo-Sensor
· Ion channel
Ion channel, a class of transmembrane proteins that allow certain ions to pass through the cellular biomembrane (in or out of the cell), regulate cellular functions and are involved in the development of cardiovascular, neurologic and metabolic diseases. FDSS/μCELL performs high throughput drug screening using voltage-sensitive fluorescent dyes or fluorescent indicators for different ions.
Na+ measurement: ANG-2, Corona-Green, Corona-Red, Sodium-Green
K+ measurement: FluxOR
Cl- measurement: MEQ, MQAE, YFP
Membrane potential measurement: FluoVolt, Di-8-ANEPPS, DiBAC4 (3)
· Luminescence
The merits, i.e., high sensitivity and low noise, of assays using luminescence probes have led to the wide application of such assays in various luciferase assay systems and Ca2+ assays using aequorin. FDSS/μCELL simultaneously performs different assays using luminescence probes on a single microplate with the use of highly sensitive two-dimensional sensors (camera), allowing for high throughput screening without bothersome time lags after substrate addition.
· BRET / FRET
Biosensors based on the principle of resonance energy transfer that use GFP (green fluorescence protein) or Luc (luciferase) are utilized as a tool to measure various intracellular signal transmissions including ionic concentrations and signaling molecular activities. FDSS/μCELL simultaneously performs BRET (bioluminescence resonance energy transfer) measurements, a luminescence-based approach, and FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) measurements, a fluorescence-based approach, on a single microplate using highly sensitive two-dimensional sensors (camera) and an automatic filter changer.
BRET: BRET1, BRET2, Nano-BRET
FRET: C/Y FRET, VSP, Cameleon
· iPS-cell
Various differentiated cells have recently been created from iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cell), and this increasingly allows for the conduct of cell-based assays using human-derived native cells. In particular, iPS Cardiotoxicity, iPS Neurotoxicity, and iPS Hepatotoxicity assessments have been increasingly performed as safety evaluation of compounds. FDSS performs high throughput toxicity screening.
Additionally, the optional EFS head pacing system enables new applications of the FDSS platform using cardiomyocytes, skeletal muscle cells, and neurons.