ScreenWorks Software

Calcium Flux

The evaluation of calcium flux is a long accepted, tried and true measure of cellular activity. Calcium flux can be used as a measurement for a host of cellular processes including neurotransmitter release, GPCR activity, voltage or ligand gated ion channels, and cardiomyocyte beat patterns, among many others. The FLIPR Penta System is the drug discovery tool for evaluation of calcium flux in high and ultra-high throughput due to its ease of use, sensitivity and user configurability.

• Enhance your calcium screens with FLIPR Calcium 6 Assay Kits
• Comparison of a novel calcium assay to fluorescence-based calcium flux assays

Cardiomyocyte screening

Early prediction of drug-induced functional cardiotoxicity requires robust in vitro systems suitable for high-throughput screening. Readily-available iPSC-derived human cardiomyocytes may be used in conjunction with calcium-sensitive dyes, and beat rates are monitored as changes in intracellular calcium. These calcium peaks can be analyzed with our ScreenWorks PeakPro software which provides the investigator a suite of powerful tools for quantification of cardiomyocyte activity.

• Compound effects upon calcium transients in Cor.4U human iPSC cardiomyocytes
• High throughput cardiotoxicity assays using stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes
• View Cardiotoxicity application page

Cardiotoxicity

Cardiotoxicity or cardiac toxicity is a term used to define chemicals that are toxic to the heart, causing muscle damage or heart electrophysiology dysfunction.

The assessment of cardiotoxicity is important in the early stages of drug discovery to eliminate potentially toxic compounds from further development.

View Cardiotoxicity application page  

GPCRs (G protein-coupled receptors)

GPCRs or G protein-coupled receptors are proteins located on the cell surface that recognize extracellular substances and transmit signals across the cell membrane. GPCRs do this by activating guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G protein) that are responsible for signal transduction inside the cell.

View GPCR application page  

Ion Channel

Ion channels are pores in the cellular membrane that allow the passage of ions across the impermeant lipid cell membrane. The flow of calcium, potassium, and sodium is very important in many cellular processes such as muscle contraction in the heart, pancreatic insulin release, the transmission of impulses in the nervous system such as pain, and T cell activation.

View Ion Channel application page  

Membrane Potential

There are dozens of identified disorders caused by impaired ion channel function. Ion channels are important drug discovery targets because they are highly druggable and specific. The FLIPR® Membrane Potential Assay Kits provide a fast, simple and reliable fluorescence-based assay for detecting changes in voltage across the cell membrane mediated by ion channel to evaluate target or off-target effects based on the application.

• View FLIPR Membrane Potential Assay Kits and resources
• View Ion Channel application page

Neuronal assays

The FLIPR Penta System is an excellent tool for monitoring calcium flux related to neuronal activity. Newly developed commercially available iPSC neurons have made high-throughput neuronal screening a reality. These cells and assays are essential for monitoring a variety of factors including neural cell culture conditions, drug compound effects, and the effect of environmental neurotoxins. Neuronal activity and neurotransmitter release can be evaluated with fluorescence-based calcium indicator dyes combining fast, simple, and powerful assays with scalable throughput.

• Phenotypic characterization of neuroactive compound effect
• Functional evaluation of neurotoxic and neuroactive compound effects in iPSC-derived 3D neural co-cultures

Potassium Assays

The majority of ion channel drug discovery solutions focus on potassium channels since they are the most prevalent type of ion channel, functioning in cardiac muscle action and hormone release. Potassium assay kits can be used to measure the effect of drug molecules on thallium transport through the potassium channel as a surrogate for potassium channel activity.

Potassium assay resources:

• View FLIPR Potassium Assay Kit and resources
• View Ion Channel application page