The SemaCyte® Platform
Adherent cells are the cornerstone of drug discovery research. These cells need to be attached to a surface or substrate which drastically limits their screening potential. Our solution is simple. Keep colonies of cells attached to a flat surface, but bring this surface into suspension.
SemaCytes function as ultra-miniaturized, steerable wells which turn adherent cells into liquid reagents. This unique microcarrier platform drives 10x gain in drug screening.
Unique Advantages
Move and freeze cells while retaining their adherent morphology
Reduce assay preparation time by >10x and increase reproducibility during compound profiling and SAR
Optical barcoding to enable true cell multiplexing
Increase multi-cell assaying efficiency by 10x for large cell panel screens, e.g. drug positioning or IND-enabling studies
Titrate cells numbers in multi-well plates with high precision
Reduce the number of cells per assay by 10x for broader screening of primary and iPS cell types during target and lead discovery
Seamless Integration
SemaCytes are created with microfabrication technologies, combining nanomagnetism, smart materials, and surface engineering.
Cell seeding can be done as usual by simply pipetting cells on arrays of immobilised SemaCytes.
Once the correct confluency and morphology is achieved, the SemaCytes are released into suspension for direct use or for long-term storage.
Cell-containing SemaCytes are titrated into a well plate for screening assays involving plate readers or microscopes.