Multiplexing Phenotype and Function for More Biologically Relevant Insights - 6

More Biologically Relevant Insights | MORE DATA... MORE INSIGHT

the Intellicyt® iQue Screener PLUS resides along with an Eppendorf epMotion 7075
liquid handler. The peristaltic pump on the Intellicyt® iQue Screener PLUS and the
precision fluid handling on the epMotion, allow us to currently operate with final
sample volumes of only 22 µL per well, half the volume of the dead volume on other
instruments, and it only takes 5-10 seconds to consume that volume depending on
the settings."
Focusing on cancer research, the Letai laboratory specifically provides functional
biomarkers capable of guiding patient therapy. Prior to implementing the Intellicyt
iQue Screener PLUS, other flow cytometers were the backbone of their analysis. While
some instruments were quite powerful, the high-throughput capabilities were slow
and prone to sample loss to dead volumes when working on plates smaller than 96
wells. Acquisition and analysis of a 384-well plate took nearly 3 hours to complete.
"Now we can use small samples that may have low blast counts and still get enough

events to make a call that could later determine therapy choice for a patient. We
are in the process of shrinking this volume deeper into the realm of impossible on
other platforms," explains Ryan. "We can also use non-standard low-volume 384
well plates. Beyond just the sampling speed, the heat map and well ID tools make
checking the entire plate for errors and overall performance quick and intuitive.
These aspects allow us to work on exceptionally small volumes and make the most
of precious primary tissues."
The flexibility of reading samples on 96- and 384-well plates on the Intellicyt®
iQue Screener PLUS or 1536-well plates on the Intellicyt® iQue Screener PLUS HD
enables high-throughput screening of large sample sets, according to Dr. ORourke.
In an AstraZeneca comparison study the screener showed good correlation with
other immunoassays, including MSD, Luminex, ELISA, HTRF, and AlphaLISA assays.1
Miniaturizing assays resulted in significant reduction of reagent cost and sample

Figure 1. Heatmaps provide rapid qualitative checks of control and experimental wells.
The heatmap on the left shows BH3 profiling in an AML blast population. BH3 profiling
provides a measured input to perturb the mitochondria; the output correlates with
the input peptide and dose to reveal how primed the mitochondria are and with what
proteins. On the right are automatically-generated profiles of each cell block. Image
courtesy of the Letai laboratory, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

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| January, 2019

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Multiplexing Phenotype and Function for More Biologically Relevant Insights

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