Calorimetry a New Paradigm in Cell-based Assays
Measuring the metabolic activities in living organisms is a well established science. In 1784, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier and Pierre Simon de Laplace cleverly devised the first calorimetric device, using heat to measure chemical and physical changes. Calorimeters have evolved to become a modern tool for the advancement of science. Large volume single channel calorimeters have found wide spread applications in the industry, mainly in material, chemical and pharmaceutical companies.
SymCel is introducing the first calorimeter developed
specifically for cell-based assays suitable for both
advanced metabolic research as well as drug discovery and
development applications.
Creating Solutions for You
calScreener™ technology is valid for monitoring changes in
biological processes caused by physical, chemical or
biological stimuli. Changes in metabolic activity will cause
changes in heat dissipated from the cell, tissue or
organism.
Depending on the biological process involved different
kinetic behaviors are anticipated. The graphs below are
idealized examples of the different heat output over time
from different cellular processes.
Calorimetry technology can be applied to
Drug development
- Bioavailability – Are your compounds able to affect living cells?
- Target validation
- Hit validation; rapid assessment of effect on cells
- Rapid filtering of hit compounds with in-built toxicity testing
- Lead selection
Protein Production
- Identification of High-producing Clones
- Optimization of Culture Conditions
Toxicology
- Identify toxicological events at early stage in the discovery process
Basic Research
- Metabolic monitoring
- Proliferation assays
- Other
calScreener™ is not limited to these few applications. The
application areas are limited only by the imagination of the
scientist. We strongly encourage you to discuss with us your
label-free cell-assay ideas and requirements.
The calScreener™ Principle
Biological processes caused by physical, chemical or biological stimuli in which metabolic changes are anticipated are all valid for the analysis.
The calPlate™ containing the individual sealed cups holding the cell culture are placed in a thermostatic chamber set at the target temperature with a precision within thousands of a Kelvin.
The cups rest upon a heat-flux detecting sensor, the thermopile. The sensor is attached to a heat-sink with a large mass compared to the cell-culture cups. All heat produced is transferred to the heat-sink giving rise to a signal in the thermopile sensor proportional to the heat-flow. 
The measured heat is thus independent of the model system or the process involved. We have a label free, real-time, detection system applicable to a wide range of biological applications
References
Below are some publication examples of biological processes and applications where heat measurements have been conducted using calorimetric equipment, including measurement of basic cellular responses such as cell proliferation, cell death (apoptosis) and cell signaling.
Apoptosis
Apoptotic processes are manifested by a typical heat pattern when DNA is fragmented
Bermudez, J., P. Backman, et al. (1992). “Microcalorimetric evaluation of the effects of methotrexate and 6-thioguanine on sensitive T-lymphoma cells and on a methotrexate-resistant subline.” Cell Biophys. 20(2-3): 111-23.
Wallen-Öhman, M., P. Lönnbro, et al. (1993). “Antibody-induced apoptosis in a human leukemia cell line is energy dependent: thermochemical analysis of cellular metabolism.” Cancer Letters 75(2): 103-9.
Roig, T. and J. Bermudez (1995). “Microcalorimetric evaluation of the effect of combined chemotherapeutic drugs.” Biochim Biophys Acta. 1244(2-3): 283-90.
Bluthnerhassler, C., M. Karnebogen, et al. (1995). “Influence of Malignancy and Cyctostatic Treatment on Microcalorimetric Behavior of Urological Tissue Samples and Cell-Cultures.” Thermochimica Acta 251: 145-154.
Thermogenesis
Böttcher, H. and P. Fürst (1996). “Microcalorimetric and biochemical investigations of thermogenesis and metabolic pathways in human white adipocytes.” Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 20(9): 874-81.
Hinz, W., B. Faller, et al. (1999). “Recombinant human uncoupling protein-3 increases thermogenesis in yeast cells.” FEBS Lett. 448(1): 57-61.
Growth
Feng, Y., S. F. Luo, et al. (1997). “Study on the thermosensitivity of a tumor cell by microcalorimetry.” Thermochimica Acta 303(2): 203-207.
Andlid, T., L. Blomberg, et al. (1999). “Characterization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CBS 7764 isolated from rainbow trout intestine.” Systematic and Applied Microbiology 22(1): 145-155.
Barros, N., S. Feijoo, et al. (2001). “Interpretation of the metabolic enthalpy change, DHmet, calculated for microbial growth reactions in soils.” Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry 63(2): 577-588.
Dejean, L., O. Bunoust, et al. (2002). “Control of growth yield of yeast on respiratory substrate by mitochondrial content.” Thermochimica Acta 394(1-2): 113-121.
