The results of two collaborative studies using the Acumen EX3 fluorescence microplate cytometer were announced by TTP Labtech at Drug Discovery and Development 2009.
Collectively, these data demonstrate that the EX3 is a flexible screening instrument capable of supporting a number of different assay formats that are key to current drug discovery and development.
The first collaboration involved the analysis of a hybridoma screen using both the FMAT 8100 HTS system from Applied Biosystems and an Acumen EX3 laser scanning cytometer from TTP Labtech.
Resultant trends for the quantification of cell- and bead-based bound antibody were comparable between the two instruments.
Data demonstrated that the Acumen is suitable for homogeneous binding assays and is a viable alternative to the discontinued FMAT assay detection instruments.
The Acumen EX3's utility does not stop there and extends beyond simple binding assays into high-content screening.
A recent collaboration between TTP Labtech and Nerviano Medical Sciences aimed to increase throughput of a complex four-colour multiplexed cell cycle assay without a deleterious effect on data quality.
The Acumen achieved a 4.5-fold increase in throughput and the results proved to be in good concordance with those of the Cellomics Arrayscan.
Acumen is suitable for primary screening.
It can identify hits that may be followed up in more detail using the complementary Arrayscan technology.
Acumen offers a combination of high-throughput laser scanning data acquisition and a simple cytometric approach to data analysis.
Both contribute to the generation of fast results, according to the company.
In addition, data file sizes are significantly smaller than those generated by high-content imaging technologies.
These features give the Acumen EX3 the ability to achieve throughputs analysing more than 300,000 wells per day.
