Toxicology and Cell Culture

In a flow cytometer, blank or stained sample cells of a cell suspension are passed through a narrow channel and separated. In the process, they are excited with lasers of different colors and a series of sensors detect the various types of light refracted or emitted by the cells. The data collected by the sensors is collected and integrated using Kaluza software to provide a comprehensive picture of the sample.

Our instrument is equipped with a sample changer and 3 excitation lasers (violet: 405 nm; blue: 488 nm; red: 638 nm). The emission of the cells is detected by 10 photomultupliers depending on the excitation laser (violet: 430 nm/40 nm BP, 550 nm/40 nm BP; blue: 525 nm/40 nm BP, 575 nm/30 nm BP, 620 nm/20 nm BP, 695 nm/30 nm BP, 755 nm LP; red: 675 nm/20 nm BP, 725 nm/20 nm BP, 755 nm LP).

The Axiovert 40 from Zeiss is a universally applicable inverted microscope for various applications in biology and medicine for examining cell cultures, blood or tissue samples. Various microscopy or contrast methods are available: Brightfield, darkfield, phase contrast and polarization contrast.

The Muse is a kind of "miniFACS" and is suitable both for rapid but accurate counting of cells and for performing various assays such as viability determination.

The xCELLigence system from ACEA Biosciences is a microelectronic biosensor system for cell assays. It enables dynamic, label-free cell analysis in real time for various research applications. For this purpose, specially designed microplates with interdigitated gold microelectrodes are used for non-invasive monitoring of cell viability using electrical impedance as a measurement parameter. Continuous monitoring of cell viability enables differentiation of various cell viability disorders such as senescence, cell toxicity and proliferation impairment.

Nanolive's 3D Cell Explorer captures the cell's 3D refractive index distribution without labeling. The extremely low light power used to generate the holograms allows for the complete absence of phototoxicity, resulting in excellent temporal resolution.