- Home
- Products
- Microplate Readers
- Multi-Mode Readers
- FlexStation 3 Multi-Mode Microplate Reader
The FlexStation® 3 Multi-Mode Microplate Reader measures absorbance, fluorescence intensity, fluorescence polarization, luminescence, and time-resolved fluorescence. Programmable liquid handling allows for perfectly timed, automated biochemical and cell-based assays. The reader adds up to three transfers of assay reagents from a 96- or 384-well source plate to enhance assay design using integrated fluidics.
Our comprehensive suite of proven compliance solutions for GMP/GLP labs can advance your efforts to quickly and confidently establish a compliant laboratory.
Learn all about absorbance detection – how it works, how it’s measured, and how it can be used to calculate concentration. We also provide information on common absorbance applications and assays including ELISAs, nucleic acid and protein quantitation, and microbial growth.
An action potential is a rapid rise and subsequent fall in voltage or membrane potential across a cellular membrane with a characteristic pattern. Examples of cells that signal via action potentials are neurons and muscle cells.
Action potentials represent important cellular events. Without action potentials, hearts would not beat, and neurons would not fire, so measuring these events is essential. The Action Potential Search tool in Clampfit 11 Advanced module detects all action potentials in the data file. It applies user defined and programmatically determined metrics including amplitude, AP duration, rise and decay time, rise and decay slope, peak to peak frequency and time, amplitude delta per peak, afterpotential amplitude and duration, and threshold potential.
Tech Tips with Jin Yan: Axon pClamp™ 11 Software Feature for Action Potential Analysis
Cellular signaling allows cells to respond to their environment as well as to communicate with other cells. Proteins located on the cell surface can receive signals from the surroundings and transmit information into the cell via a series of protein interactions and biochemical reactions that comprise a signaling pathway. Multicellular organisms rely upon an extensive array of signaling pathways to coordinate the proper growth, regulation, and functioning of cells and tissues. If signaling between or within cells is dysregulated, inappropriate cellular responses may lead to cancer and other diseases.
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.
Enzyme activity can be monitored in real time using a chromogenic substrate which, upon its addition to the enzyme, produces a change in color that is detectable on an absorbance microplate reader. Using an instrument with onboard liquid handling capability, substrate can be added automatically while the reaction is monitored, enabling detection of the earliest part of the reaction and thus more accurate estimates of binding affinity.
Gq protein-coupled receptor (GPCRs) activation can be monitored by measuring the increase in intracellular calcium with fluorescent dyes. A calcium-sensitive dye is taken into the cytoplasm of the cell. Upon ligand binding to the receptor, calcium is released into the cytoplasm of the cell. The dye binds to the intracellular calcium and an increase in fluorescence is measured.
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.
Fluorescence polarization (FP) is a technique that is widely used to monitor binding events in solution. It can be used to assess biomolecular interactions, including protein-antibody binding and DNA hybridization, as well as enzyme activity, and it has been adapted to basic research as well as high-throughput screening.
In therapeutic protein engineering and cell line development, IgG quantification is the process of measuring the amount of immunoglobulin G (IgG), a common class of therapeutic proteins, produced by a genetically modified cell line. This is important for evaluating and monitoring the productivity of the cell line and selecting the best candidate for further development of therapeutic antibodies.
Learn about luminescence detection – what it is, how it works, and the advantages of luminescence over other detection modes. We’ll cover key luminescence-based assays including dual-luciferase reporter gene, chemiluminescent ELISA, cytotoxicity, and BRET.
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.
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.
Reporter gene assays enable researchers to determine whether a gene is expressed and at what level. They are used to study signaling pathways, gene regulation, structure of regulatory elements, and much more. A reporter gene vector consists of a promoter or gene of interest, along with a reporter gene such as firefly luciferase, which codes for a protein whose activity can be easily measured. The vector is transfected into mammalian cells, and when the gene of interest is active in the cells, the reporter gene is also expressed and can be measured using appropriate detection reagents.
Learn all about time-resolved fluorescence – TRF and TR-FRET including HTRF assays. We’ll provide applications resources to aid in your research, including kinase assays, cellular signaling pathways, protein-protein interactions, cell cytotoxicity, and more.
Publications
According to Biocompare, “one of the most overlooked pieces of equipment in any lab is the microplate reader. While they play an important role in generating data from a wide range o…
Blog
Advancements in genetic engineering and synthetic biology have allowed numerous breakthroughs in recent decades. The importance of cell line development needs an honorable mention.…
Blog
The regulations for food and drug in the United States, described in the Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and the EudraLex Annex 11 in EU, are critical in ensuring safe…
Blog
For over 40 years, Molecular Devices has been at the forefront of technological advances which have contributed to significant scientific breakthroughs. To kick off the new year, we…
Application Note
As a laboratory’s requirements often change according to ongoing research needs, having a multi-mode microplate reader that offers multiple detection modes such as absorbance,…
eBook
HTRF® is a versatile TR-FRET technology developed by Cisbio for detecting biomolecular interactions. Assays encompass the areas of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR), kinases and cel…
Application Note
Control Standard Endotoxin (CSE) was reconstituted with the volume of LAL reagent water (LRW) indicated on the Certificate of Analysis included with the kit to yield a solution of 100…
Application Note
HTRF assays from Cisbio have evolved to encompass the areas of G protein-coupled receptors, kinases and cell signaling, epigenetics, and biomarkers.
Customer Breakthrough
Studies carried out in the “Peptide Synthesis and Functional Screening” department of the Cell Imaging Platform of the University of Rouen in Haute-Normandie (…
eBook
This new eBook discusses early drug safety testing using HTS iPSC-derived cells with imaging. Download it now!
Application Note
Calcium imaging, or monitoring changes in intracellular calcium, is an extremely useful technique for investigating the variety of roles that calcium ions have in functioning neurons.…
Application Note
Platelets are small, anucleate blood cells that mediate haemostasis by aggregating at sites of blood vessel injury to form a thrombus (or clot) that limits blood loss. When platelets…
Application Note
Reporter genes are valuable tools for studying gene expression, serving as surrogates for genes involved in various signaling pathways and disease conditions. Luciferases are the most…
eBook
Biology research has been greatly simplified by the availability of standardized assay kits, instruments, and assay protocols from commercial manufacturers.
Application Note
Reporter gene assays are important tools for studying gene expression associated with the activation of cellular pathways. Cells are transfected with a plasmid containing the reporter…
Customer Breakthrough
Dr. Emily Taylor's research at the University of Cambridge in the Calcium Signalling Group focuses on structure and function of calcium signalling pathways to understand how receptor…
Customer Breakthrough
M. Yves Cambet is a researcher within the Readers, Assay Development & Screening (RE.A.D.S) Unit at the Faculty of Medicine in the Centre Medical Univerisitaire (C.M.U.) of Gene…
eBook
Our FlexStation® 3 Multi-Mode Microplate Reader is a multi-detection platform that increases liquid handling throughput and flexibility for biochemical- and cell-based kinetic assays…
Application Note
Bacterial resistance to ß-lactam drugs through the production of class A ß-lactamase enzymes is an increasing concern in the medical community.1 ß-lactamase inhibitory protein (BLIP)…
Application Note
Cell-based assays can often be challenging and time consuming. To facilitate and streamline this complicated process, frozen cells, which can be assayed without prior cultivation, have…
Application Note
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent one of the most important therapeutic targets in drug discovery research. GPCRs are membrane-localized proteins that play an important…
Application Note
Gq-coupled receptors are transmembrane proteins that are responsible for transmitting extracellular signals to the inside of the cell, which ultimately leads to changes in gene…
Application Note
Calcium (Ca2+) is the most common signal transduction element in cells ranging from bacteria to specialized neurons. Measurement of changes in the concentration of intracellular…
Application Note
Central nervous system (CNS) disorders affect many people worldwide. To increase the quality and number of drugs available for treatments of CNS disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease,…
Application Note
FLIPR® Calcium Assay Kits from Molecular Devices employ sensitive calcium indicators and proprietary masking dyes to enable researchers to conduct highly sensitive fluorescent screens…
Application Note
Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are a group of enzymes that degrade the phosphodiester bond of cAMP and cGMP, second messengers that are involved in a variety of biological…
Scientific Poster
The proteasome is a massive protein complex inside all eukaryotic cells (and some bacteria) that removes unnecessary proteins by breaking them down into short peptides. It consists o…
Scientific Poster
Learn how the FlexStation 3 can be used to accurately and easiy run Dual Luciferase® Reporter Assays using the integrated fluidics and sensitive optics of the Flexstation 3 system.…
Data Sheet
This datasheet for the FlexStation 3 Multi-Mode Microplate Reader can be utilized in a variety of experiments using its five read-modes and flexible liquid transfer and pipetting cap…
Brochure
Molecular Devices is a leading provider of high-performance bioanalytical measurement solutions for life science research, pharmaceutical development, and biotherapeutic discovery. O…
Small Lab, Big Challenges - How the Right Reader can Impact Productivity
Critical Considerations for Choosing the Right Microplate Reader
Expanding Assay Applications with Multi-Mode Readers from ELISA to AlphaScreen
FlexStation 3 Multi-Mode Microplate Reader
Latest Citations: For a complete list, please click here .
*Source: https://scholar.google.com/
Many commercial organizations currently use the Fluorometric Imaging Plate Reader (FLIPR®: Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, CA) to conduct highthroughput measurements of intracellular Ca2+ concentration (see Chapter 7 ), taking advantage of its rapid kinetics, reliability, and compatibility for automation. For the majority of industrial applications, the primary limitation of FLIPR (i.e., its requirement for single wavelength fluorescent probes using visible light excitation) is not a significant issue. Indeed, visible light probes offer certain benefits over their ultraviolet (UV)-excited ratiometric counterparts, such as reduced sample autofluorescence and higher absorbance, thereby allowing relatively low concentrations of dye to be used. However, under certain circumstances researchers may prefer to conduct high-throughput experiments with ratiometric dyes, particularly when issues of dye leakage, photobleaching, or signal-to-noise ratio become a concern.
The Molecular Devices' FlexStation 3 is a benchtop multi-mode microplate reader capable of automated fluorescence measurement in multi-well plates. It is ideal for medium- to high-throughput screens in academic settings. It has an integrated fluid transfer module equipped with a multi-channel pipetter and the machine reads one column at a time to monitor fluorescence changes of a variety of fluorescent reagents. For example, FlexStation 3 has been used to study the function of Ca2+-permeable ion channels and G-protein coupled receptors by measuring the changes of intracellular free Ca2+ levels. Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are a large family of nonselective cation channels that play important roles in many physiological and pathophysiological functions. Most of the TRP channels are calcium permeable and induce calcium influx upon activation. In this video, we demonstrate the application of FlexStation 3 to study the pharmacological profile of the TRPA1 channel, a molecular sensor for numerous noxious stimuli. HEK293 cells transiently or stably expressing human TRPA1 channels, grown in 96-well plates, are loaded with a Ca2+-sensitive fluorescent dye, Fluo-4, and real-time fluorescence changes in these cells are measured before and during the application of a TRPA1 agonist using the FLEX mode of the FlexStation 3. The effect of a putative TRPA1 antagonist was also examined. Data are transferred from the SoftMax Pro software to construct concentration-response relationships of TRPA1 activators and inhibitors.
The FlexStation is a 96 or 384 fluorescent plate reader with the capability of adding solutions during readings; it therefore has the potential to provide high throughput analyses of the functional characteristics of neurotransmitter-gated ion channels that can be examined using changes in fluorescence. The 5-HT3 receptor is one such protein, as its activation results in a change in membrane potential due to the opening of a Ca2+-permeant, cation-selective channel; it can therefore be studied using both Ca2+- and membrane potential-sensitive fluorescent dyes. Here we have used the FlexStation to examine the function of recombinant 5-HT3 receptors expressed in HEK293 cells using both these classes of dye. The results show that the pharmacological characteristics of the receptor obtained using the FlexStation is similar to those reported using other functional methods, although caution must be applied when using the membrane potential dye as large changes in membrane potential can yield inaccurate EC50s. Modifying the constituents of the buffer, however, so that the change in membrane potential was reduced, yielded EC50 values that were similar to previously reported data. We conclude that the FlexStation is a useful tool for high throughput studies when examining the function of neurotransmitter receptors that result in either a change in Ca2+ concentration or membrane potential.
Product | Part Number |
---|---|
FlexStation 3 Microplate Reader with SoftMax Pro Software Includes: FlexStation 3 Base System, 1 year warranty covering parts & labor. **Does not include 8 or 16 channel pipettor head, must be purchased separately and MUST be ordered at the time of ordering the instrument. | Flex3 |
SpectraDrop™ Micro-Volume Starter Kit | 0200-6262 |
SpectraDrop™ Micro-Volume HTS Kit | 0200-6267 |
FlexStation 3 Benchtop Multi-Mode Microplate Reader IQ/OQ Validation Protocols | 0112-0160 |