A Breakthrough for Yeast Cell Microscopy
CellASIC Corporation has developed the ONIX™ microfluidic system for live cell imaging of yeast samples. This represents the first and only product on the market that enables fluidic environment control during time-lapse imaging without sacrificing optical quality.
The innovative microfluidic approach provides distinct advantages over current methods. For example, agar pads are the standard for localization of yeast cells for time lapse imaging, but prevent fluidic addressing. Coated chamber slides allow fluidic access, but cannot stably maintain cells for high resolution microscopy over time. The CellASIC ONIX platform overcomes these limitations by implementing a microfluidic trap that holds yeast cells in perfect focus without obstructing fluid exchange. Furthermore, the integrated system streamlines the experiment process by reducing preparation time and providing more reliable results.
Yeast represents a biologically important model organism to study signaling pathways in living cells. Marc Green, an imaging specialist in Susan Forsburg’s lab at the University of Southern California (http://www.pombe.net), is using the CellASIC platform to investigate cell cycle and DNA replication in fission yeast in order to uncover mechanisms that influence human health, ranging from cancer development to infertility and birth defects.
According to Marc, “The CellASIC system is the first affordable solution we have found that will allow us to extensively manipulate the extracellular environment of our organism while imaging at high-resolution. Imagine trying to monitor a protein's location in a moving cell - this is practically impossible, and well beyond the capability of existing laboratory microscope tools. CellASIC has solved this problem. This product is easy to use, and provides the highest quality results I have seen in yeast.”
The benefits of the CellASIC product also resonate with scientists in the emerging field of cellular systems engineering. Noah Helman, a post-doc in Wendell Lim’s lab at the University of California, San Francisco (http://www.ucsf.edu/limlab), is applying the CellASIC platform to reengineering cellular pathways to generate novel response profiles in yeast cells. “Before we had this system, we were fabricating devices ourselves, which was time-intensive and less reliable. Now I can focus on designing new experiments that were not previously possible.”
About the Company
CellASIC Corporation specializes in developing microfluidic tools for live cell analysis. The core of the company’s technology is to engineer precise microscale environments to enable the next generation of biomedical research. This approach gives scientists an unprecedented level of control over experiential conditions leading to a more accurate understanding of how biological networks affect human health.
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