A novel imaging cytometry method for quantitative cell viability assays (65.13)

Abstract Accurate measurement of viability is essential for many cell based research. The traditional cell viability analysis instrumentation includes microscopy, flow cytometry and plate reader. However, these systems are often expensive to purchase and maintain. Also, the operational processes are often tedious or complicated. Here we present a novel Cellometer Vision system, which incorporates image based cell counting and fluorescence detection in a compact and easy-to-use instrument. This method utilizes both bright-field and fluorescence imaging of a disposable cell counting chamber to quickly provide concentration and viability measurements of cell populations. In this poster, we demonstrate the application of Cellometer Vision system for cell viability assays that test for different characteristics of cells death. Jurkat cells were treated with cytotoxic compounds and heat treatment. Cell viability was assessed by mitochondria function assay using JC-1 dye, apoptosis assay using Annexin-V, membrane integrity assay using trypan blue and propidium iodide, metabolic assay using calcium AM and alamrBlue, and cell proliferation assay. Differences in cell viabilities were observed from different assays for cells intermediate stages of cell death. Cellometer Vision provides a simple, rapid and cost-effective tool for cell viability measurements. This novel imaging cytometry method is demonstrated here to support viability assays that test different stages of the cell death process.