Other in vitro assays

In our chemotaxis assays, we utilize a Transwell containing a membrane with a defined pore size. Cells are seeded above the membrane and are allowed to migrate toward a chemoattractant in the lower chamber. Assays are typically run in 96-well format and can be used to full quantitate chemotaxis without any manual cell counting.

Cell migration plays an important role in the progression of various diseases including cancer, atherosclerosis and arthritis. This highly integrated, multi-step process can go beyond simple migration and also lead to cell invasion which can be measured by the invasion of cells moving through the extracellular matrix into neighboring tissues in a process that involves ECM degradation and proteolysis.

Cell adhesion is a complex mechanism that involves a variety of processes including cell migration & invasion, embryogenesis, wound healing and tissue remodeling. Using commercially available adhesion assays, we are able to quantify the adhesion of cells to a variety of extracellular matrix proteins using colorimetric or fluorometric detection. Our endothelium assays measure the interaction of leukocytes or tumor cells with vascular endothelium and quantitation is measured using a fluorescent plate reader.