Cell Proliferation Assays

Cell proliferation assays are useful to determine cell division and measure the expanding population. While for decades the methodology for cell proliferation was extremely cumbersome, using radioactive molecules 3H-thymidine to be integrated in the genetic material of new or “daughter” cells, the use of Flow Cytometry allows us to implement cell proliferation assays without radioactivity. With flow cytometry data analysis, we can generate accurate information to quantify proliferation rate, metabolic activity of the cells and even assess different antigens expressed when cell proliferation occurs.

Some of the applications of cell proliferation assays include: (1) testing safety, if your pharmaceutical drug is safe, it should not induce cell proliferation, (2) testing efficacy of a pharmaceutical drug that aims to inhibit tumor cell growth, (3) during CAR-T cells development, CAR-T cells are transferred into patients with cancer, when developing these T cells, we need to make sure they get activated upon recognition of antigen in tumor and start proliferating to kill tumor cells, (4) testing clonal expansion in T and B cells, upon re-call with specific antigen, (5) developing diabetes drugs with islet cells (cells that produce insulin and stop proliferating with high blood glucose levels.

FlowMetric has the biologically relevant expertise to develop and implement cell proliferation assays in order for you to better understand the functional aspects of your therapeutic drug.