Bionas cell profiling device selected by Solvay Pharmaceuticals for Target Validation

Bionas GmbH (Rostock, Germany) and Solvay Pharmaceuticals Research Laboratories (Weesp, The Netherlands) announce that the Bionas® 2500 analyzing system has been recognized to be a valuable tool for target validation studies.

"It is known that angiotensin 1-8 (angiotensin II) acts via two receptors. The AT1 receptor mediates vasoconstriction upon stimulation, whereas the AT2 receptor is implicated in hypotensive effects. However, the mechanism through which angiotensin 1-7 induces its powerful hypotensive effect were unclear," explains Dr. Eric Ronken, Principal Scientist at Solvay.

On-line monitoring of endothelial cell physiology and its changes upon challenges by angiotensin 1-7 helped in delineating the mechanism of action by this peptide. The Bionas® 2500 analyzing system is well suited for such experiments, as it measures cellular acidification, oxygen consumption and cell adhesion simultaneously in a label-free and non-invasive way. "The Bionas system allows us to extend and optimize target validation studies by bringing the targets back into their physiological context", says Dr. Eric Ronken.

The Bionas 2500 analyzing system gives a complete overview over the physiologic state of cells. It can be used to discriminate between different signal transduction pathways allowing target validation studies at an early stage in the drug discovery process. Recently, Bionas announced the usefulness of its device to predict liver toxicity in primary human hepatocytes and standardized HepG2 cells.