Human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell-derived cardiomyocytes offer more physiologically relevant features similar to native cardiac cells making them more functionally relevant for drug development and toxicity studies. These iPS cells are reproducible and readily available but are not used broadly in higher throughput mainly due to their high cost so being able to reduce the number of cells required would be a major advantage.
A decrease in functional beta-cell mass is a key feature of type 2 diabetes. There is a significant requirement for assays that can monitor beta-cell apoptosis, proliferation and morphology in the context of the islet. Isolation of primary rodent islets is labour intensive and human islets are expensive and rely on donor availability. Therefore, miniaturising islet assays would maximise the use of this primary cell source.
The Curiox Droparray microplates (96 or 384) have a hydrophobic surface arrayed in the standard SBS format. Cells can be dispensed in 10 µl or 3µl volumes held as a drop on a hydrophilic spot on the plate surface and covered with a thin layer of hydrocarbon fluid. Additional media allows cells to be maintained for longer periods. The HT200 plate washers have been optimised by Curiox to reduce cell loss through use of fluid transfer.
Our aim was to evaluate two different assay utilising the key benefits of the Droparray plates; assay miniaturisation, long term culture and gentle washing. One assay was a cardiomyoctyes FLIPR assay used to detect compound effects on cardiac function and the other an imaging assay measuring β-cell proliferation in human dispersed islets.
Data presented in this poster will demonstrate the ability to maintain cardiomyocytes for several weeks without media change and the effect of pharmacological compounds on the rate of beating and magnitude. Secondly we will show how an imaging based assay requiring the use of slides to capture pancreatic β-cells proliferating can be converted to the Droparray format thereby improving throughput from primary islets.