Cell Quality Assessment

Cell-based assays are intended to reflect the function of cells as they exist in vivo.  Therefore, cell culture practices strive to maintain cells in a relevant state that is reproducible from experiment to experiment.

While it is customary to “normalize” cell-based assays using a viable cell count, fluctuations in culture conditions, i.e., media, temperature, atmosphere, increasing cell passage number and phenotypic instability can change the functional potential and relevance of a cell population.  

XF technology non-invasively measures cellular bioenergetics in vitro, enabling “quality control” of cell populations in order to improve the reproducibility and relevance of in vitro studies.

The Bioenergetic State of a Cell Population Predicts Its Behavior

Cell viability measurements are widely employed to normalize cell-based assays for biological content. Viability assays lag hours behind actual bioenergetic changes and do not provide physiologically relevant information about the functional potential or “vitality” of cells. This application explores how the bioenergetic state of a cell population can be easily and non-invasively measured to provide a useful measurement of cell quality and functional potential.

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