Multi-wavelength measurement without filters

 

The Gemini™ XPS and EM Microplate Readers with dual monochromators provide a flexible environment to determine the optimal excitation and emission settings for fluorescence intensity assays. Multiple-point well scanning optimizes cell-based assay sensitivity. Comparison of relative fluorescence units (RFUs) between samples is allowed by a unique calibration against an internal standard. Temperature-sensitive reactions are monitored with consistent temperature regulation from ambient to 45°C.

  • Eliminate changing out filters

    Eliminate changing out filters

    Eliminate the need for identifying, purchasing, and changing out filters. Dual monochromators provide excitation and emission wavelength selection between 250-850 nm.

  • Measure more accurately

    Measure more accurately

    Well scanning reports fluorescent measurements from a single point in the center of a microplate well to multiple points across a tissue culture well.

  • Avoid losing high signals

    Avoid losing high signals

    Avoid losing high signals to detector saturation and find the correct reader settings with our patented Auto PMT Optimization System.

Gemini

Gemini

Features

  • Top-read Icon

    Top-read capability

    The top-reading Gemini XPS Microplate Reader measures fluorescence on a variety of sample formats from 6- to 384-well microplates in endpoint, kinetic, spectral scan, and well-scan modes.

  • Top- and bottom Icon

    Top- and bottom-read capability

    The top- and bottom-reading Gemini EM Microplate Reader measures fluorescence on a variety of sample formats from 6- to 384-well microplates in endpoint, kinetic, spectral scan, and well-scan modes.

Latest Resources

19

Applications of Gemini XPS and EM Microplate Readers

  • cAMP Assays (GPCR)

    cAMP Assays (GPCR)

    Monitoring levels of cAMP, a second messenger produced in response to activation of adenylate cyclase, is one of the most common ways to screen for agonists and antagonists of Gi/Gs protein-coupled receptors. cAMP levels can be monitored using fluorescent molecules that bind to cAMP and are detected using a fluorescence plate reader.

    Here are a few application notes on cAMP assays (GPCR) you may find of interest:

    Caspase-3 Apoptosis Assays

    Caspase-3 Apoptosis Assays

    Apoptosis is a highly regulated cellular program that causes cell death in normal processes such as embryonic development, as well as diseases including cancer and neurodegenerative conditions. Assays for apoptosis can be performed using a variety of imaging or microplate reader detection systems and provide valuable information on normal and disease-related mechanisms of cell death.

    Learn about a Caspase-3 single-step, homogenous assay that is specifically designed for microplate readers:

  • Cell Health

    cell-viability-proliferation

    Cell viability refers to the number of healthy cells in a population and can be evaluated using assays that measure enzyme activity, cell membrane integrity, ATP production, and other indicators. These methods can employ luminescent, fluorescent, or colorimetric readouts as indicators of general cell viability or even specific cellular pathways. Cytotoxicity and cell viability assays are often used to assess a drug or other treatment’s effect, and are valuable tools in the search for new therapeutics, as well as advancing our understanding of how normal cells function.

    Learn more 

    Cell Proliferation Assays

    Cell Proliferation Assays

    Quantitation of cell proliferation using fluorescence allows one to easily monitor the effects of drugs and other experimental treatments on cell growth.

    This application note describes two assay methods of a cell prolfieration. In the first, cellular proliferation is quantitated using a cell-based standard curve. In the second, cellular proliferation is quantitated using RNase-treated cell samples and a DNA standard curve.

  • Cytotoxicity Assays

    Cytotoxicity Assays

    Development of predictive in vitro assays suitable for safety and efficacy testing is of high interest for improving the drug development process and reducing drug attrition. There has been great interest in using stem cells as tools for screening compounds during early drug development.

    In this scientific poster, we present results obtained from one of our multi-mode plate readers for performing toxicity assessment of various compounds using stem cell-derived cell models in a high throughput manner:

    Drug Discovery & Development

    Drug Discovery & Development

    The drug discovery landscape is shifting, with more scientists centering cell line development, disease models, and high-throughput screening methods around physiologically-relevant 3D cell models. The reason for this is clear: Using cellular model systems in research that closely mimic patient disease states or human organs can bring life-saving therapeutics to market – faster.

    Learn more  

  • EarlyTox Cell Viability Assay Kits

    EarlyTox Cell Viability Assay Kits

    Cell viability assays are critical to a broad spectrum of research areas ranging from investigation into the mechanisms of cell death to the development of new therapeutics targeting apoptosis in diseases. One of the most popular detection technologies for cell viability is a fluorescence microplate reader.

    Here are a few applications you may find of interest:

    ELISA

    Elisa

    Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) are used to measure the amount of a specific protein, using a microplate format, and results are most often detected via absorbance in the visible wavelength range. Chemiluminescent and fluorescent ELISA formats offer enhanced sensitivity for accurate quantitation of less abundant analytes.

    Learn more 

  • Fluorescence

    Fluorescence

    Learn all about fluorescence detection – what it is, how it works, and the instruments used to measure the fluorescence of a sample. We also cover many fluorescence-based assays including cell viability, GPCR activity, and fluorescent nucleic acid quantification.

    Learn more  

    Fluorescent Protein Detection

    Fluorescent Protein Detection

    Fluorescent proteins have become enormously popular as tools for monitoring biological events in vivo. In addition to green fluorescent protein (GFP) from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria, there are now numerous others available from other species of jellyfish and reef coral. These proteins can be expressed in a diverse range of cells and organisms, where they are used to track many cellular processes, including protein synthesis and translocation, gene induction, and cell lineage.

    Read Application Note 

  • Fluorescent Protein Quantitation

    Fluorescent Protein Quantitation

    Proteins inside eukaryotic cells exist in a dynamic state, in a highly-regulated balance between synthesis and degradation. Whereas protein synthesis is well-understood after decades of study, major advances in our knowledge of protein degradation have occurred only in the last two decades.

    Learn more about fluorescent protein in our application note:

    Microbiology and Contaminant

    microbiology-contaminant-monitor

    Microbes, including bacteria, have been estimated to make up about 15 percent of the earth’s biomass, and microbes in the human body outnumber human cells by 10 to 1. These microorganisms provide great benefit to us and are also vital to many fields of research from medicine to alternative energy production. On the other hand, monitoring for microbes and the toxic substances they produce is necessary to ensure the safety of pharmaceutical products. Scientists whose research relies on mammalian cells must carefully monitor these cultures for unwanted microbial contaminants to ensure that their experimental results are reliable.

    Learn more 

  • Nucleic Acid (DNA/RNA) Quantitation and Analysis

    Nucleic Acid

    Nucleic acids are large biomolecules common to all known life forms. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) consists of a double strand of pairs of nucleotides, while ribonucleic acid (RNA) is typically a single strand. In DNA, the nucleotides are adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine, while RNA contains uracil instead of thymine. DNA makes up the genetic material of all organisms, encoding the information cells need to synthesize proteins.

    Learn more 

    Protein Detection, Quantitation and Analysis

    Protein Detection

    Protein detection, quantitation, and analysis are central to the investigation of a wide variety of biological processes. Measuring the concentration of protein is necessary to processes ranging from protein purification and labeling to sample preparation for electrophoresis. Protein can be quantitated directly via absorbance at 280 nm, or indirectly using colorimetric (BCA, Bradford, etc.) or fluorometric methods offering advantages such as greater sensitivity. To identify and measure a specific protein within a complex sample, for example, serum or cell lysate, an ELISA may be used.

    Learn more 

  • Tryptophan detection

    Tryptophan Detection

    The intrinsic fluorescence of proteins is due to the aromatic amino acids tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine. Tryptophan dominates the emission of proteins and is the most sensitive to solvent polarity and the local environment. Analysis of changes in tryptophan fluorescence can yield information on protein denaturation and conformation.

    In these application notes, we demonstrate performance of the SpectraMax® multi-mode microplate readers for assays measuring intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence.

Specifications & Options of Gemini XPS and EM Microplate Readers

 

*Using lowest settings and speed read when available.

Resources of Gemini XPS and EM Microplate Readers

  • Citation
    Dated: May 01, 2011
    Publication Name: Bentham Science Publishers

    Amino Acid-Substituted Gemini Surfactant-Based Nanoparticles as Safe and Versatile Gene Delivery Agents

    Gene based therapy represents an important advance in the treatment of diseases that heretofore have had either no treatment or cure. To capitalize on the true potential of gene therapy, there is a need to develop better delivery systems that can protect these therapeutic biomolecules and deliver them safely to the target sites. Recently, we have… View more

    Gene based therapy represents an important advance in the treatment of diseases that heretofore have had either no treatment or cure. To capitalize on the true potential of gene therapy, there is a need to develop better delivery systems that can protect these therapeutic biomolecules and deliver them safely to the target sites. Recently, we have designed and developed a series of novel amino acid-substituted gemini surfactants with the general chemical formula C12H25(CH3)2N+- (CH2)3-N(AA)-(CH2)3-N+(CH3)2-C12H25 (AA= glycine, lysine, glycyl-lysine and, lysyl-lysine). These compounds were synthesized and tested in rabbit epithelial cells using a model plasmid and a helper lipid. Plasmid/gemini/lipid (P/G/L) nanoparticles formulated using these novel compounds achieved higher gene expression than the nanoparticles containing the parent unsubstituted compound. In this study, we evaluated the cytotoxicity of P/G/L nanoparticles and explored the relationship between transfection efficiency/toxicity and their physicochemical characteristics (such as size, binding properties, etc.). An overall low toxicity is observed for all complexes with no significant difference among substituted and unsubstituted compounds. An interesting result revealed by the dye exclusion assay suggests a more balanced protection of the DNA by the glycine and glycyl-lysine substituted compounds. Thus, the higher transfection efficiency is attributed to the greater biocompatibility and flexibility of the amino acid/peptide-substituted gemini surfactants and demonstrates the feasibility of using amino acid-substituted gemini surfactants as gene carriers for the treatment of diseases affecting epithelial tissue.

    Contributors: Singh, Jagbir; Yang, Peng; Michel, Deborah; E. Verrall, Ronald; Foldvari, Marianna; Badea, Ildiko  
    Go to article

  • Citation
    Dated: Feb 24, 2010
    Publication Name: ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies

    A Human CXCL13-Induced Actin Polymerization Assay Measured by Fluorescence Plate Reader

    The chemokine receptor CXCR5 is predominantly expressed on mature B cells and follicular T-helper cells. CXCR5 and its ligand CXCL13 participate in ectopic germinal center formation at the inflammatory sites of multiple immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and Sjogren’s syndrome. Therefore, disrupting CXCL13-induced… View more

    The chemokine receptor CXCR5 is predominantly expressed on mature B cells and follicular T-helper cells. CXCR5 and its ligand CXCL13 participate in ectopic germinal center formation at the inflammatory sites of multiple immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and Sjogren’s syndrome. Therefore, disrupting CXCL13-induced chemotaxis may be a fruitful approach for developing therapeutics in treating these diseases. Cells undergo cytoskeletal rearrangement prior to chemotaxis, and therefore actin polymerization can be used as a surrogate readout more proximal to chemokine receptor activation than chemotaxis. Conventionally, actin polymerization is measured by fluorescence microscopy or flow cytometry, which are either of low throughput or in need of special instruments. We developed a 96-well actin polymerization assay that can process 1,000 to 1,500 samples a day. This assay uses a standard laboratory fluorescence microplate reader as the detection instrument and was optimized for various experimental conditions such as cell density, actin filament staining reagent, staining buffer, and cell culture conditions. We demonstrate that this actin polymerization assay in 96-well format exhibits the expected pharmacology for human CXCR5 and is suitable as a primary functional assay to screen neutralizing scFv in crude bacterial peri-preps and a secondary assay for small compound collections.

    Contributors: Jennifer Alley, Laird Bloom, Marion Kasaian, Huilan Gao, Gabriel Berstein, James D. Clark, and Wenyan Miao  
    Go to article

  • Citation
    Dated: May 09, 2005
    Publication Name: Journal of Materials Chemistry

    Phosphorescent oxygen-sensitive materials for biological applications

    A number of macromolecular probes employing different carriers and a number of microparticular probes employing different oxygen sensitive dyes were fabricated, giving a panel of oxygen sensitive probes. The photophysical and oxygen sensing properties of these probes were examined comparatively. The probes were used successfully to monitor… View more

    A number of macromolecular probes employing different carriers and a number of microparticular probes employing different oxygen sensitive dyes were fabricated, giving a panel of oxygen sensitive probes. The photophysical and oxygen sensing properties of these probes were examined comparatively. The probes were used successfully to monitor cellular oxygen uptake and their ability to overcome a number of problems associated with oxygen sensing in biological samples was assessed. Macromolecular probes proved sufficient in a number of cases, particularly where spectral solutions can resolve the interferences. However where physical interactions cause interference the added protection of the polymer in the particle based probes was required.

    Contributors: Ciara O'Donovan, James Hynes, Dmitri Yashunski and Dmitri B. Papkovsky  
    Go to article

Gemini™ XPS Microplate Reader

Product Product Number
Gemini XPS Microplate Reader XPS
SpectraTest FL1 Fluorescence Validation Plate 0200-5060
SpectraDrop™ Micro-Volume Microplate Starter Kit 0200-6262
SpectraDrop™ Micro-Volume HTS Kit 0200-6267
StakMax Microplate Handling Stacker StakMax
Microplate Reader Shelf 9000-0756

Gemini™ EM Microplate Reader

Product Part Number
Gemini EM Microplate Reader EM
SpectraTest FL1 Fluorescence Validation Plate 0200-5060
SpectraDrop™ Micro-Volume Microplate Starter Kit 0200-6262
SpectraDrop™ Micro-Volume Microplate HTS Kit 0200-6267
Microplate Reader Shelf 9000-0756