New Atmospheric Control Unit Enhances Cell-Based Microplate Assays

BMG LABTECH now offers an Atmospheric Control Unit (ACU) for its latest microplate reader, the CLARIOstar®, providing an ideal “walk away” solution for any cell-based assay.

BMG LABTECH has developed a new generation of its Atmospheric Control Unit - a complete solution to fully regulate and independently control both O2 and CO2 within the microplate reader chamber. From standard cell growth to hypoxic or cytotoxicity assays, the ACU provides the optimal environment for any live cell assay.

The microprocessor-controlled unit can regulate CO2 (0.1 - 20%) and O2 (0.1 – 20 %) independently, making it unnecessary to change gas cylinders or piped gas supplies to reproduce the specific physiological conditions needed for cell-based assays. In combination with CLARIOstar’s extended temperature control and three different shaking options (orbital, double orbital, and linear), the ACU is able to provide the physiological environment for any cell type, making cell-based assays more biologically relevant.

Within the German-engineered ACU, integrated gas pressure regulators allow for easy setup and independence of gas supply pressure, and eliminate the need of further pressure regulators between the ACU and the gas supply. Furthermore, integrated pressure sensors combined with an acoustic alarm allow for easy control of both gas supplies while superior valve gas control ensures minimal gas consumption. Accurate gas regulation is further guaranteed by the incorporated altitude correction feature.

The user interface is intuitive with a backlit LCD touchscreen and the possibility to define up to 10 user-presets and the display of gas concentration curves over time.

CLARIOstar’s detection modes include: Fluorescence Intensity and FRET, Time-Resolved Fluorescence (TRF) and TR-FRET, Fluorescence Polarization/Anisotropy, AlphaScreen®/AlphaLISA®, Luminescence (flash and glow) and BRET, and spectrometer-based UV/Vis absorbance. The multi-mode capabilities, together with the Atmospheric Control Unit, are especially advantageous for a variety of applications including cell viability and proliferation assays, migration and invasion studies, hypoxia, angiogenesis, ischemia/reperfusion, cytotoxicity studies, intracellular pH analysis, and viral uptake.