In a recent study, the Xcelligence system from Roche Applied Science was used for the testing of virus-mediated cytopathogenicity.
Two cell types, 'VeroE6' (kidney culture cells of African green monkey with deficiency of the interferon system) and '293' (human embryonic kidney culture cells with intact interferon system) were infected with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV).
At the heart of each Xcelligence System is a micro-electronic biosensor, which is built into each well of the standard 96 well E Plate microtiter plates.
A cell that has contact with the sensor changes the electrical impedance between the microelectrodes.
Effects influencing the status of the cells - for example, changes in cell adhesion, cytotoxicity, cell proliferation, cell-cell interactions and morphological changes - lead to changes in the impedance measurements and can therefore be quickly detected in real time.
Labelling of the cells, which can induce non-physiological changes in the cells, is not necessary.
The system is label free and requires no reporters.
The cell-based assay system perfectly integrates micro electronics and cell biology and has a number of advantages in comparison to conventional cell analysis systems.
It is suitable for uninterrupted monitoring of processes in living cells and for monitoring real-time kinetics.
The system supplies a densely concentrated stream of information and shows excellent sensitivity and reproducibility when monitoring the overall cell population of a cell culture.
