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   The ECIS Connection - July 2011              

New Array Stage Holder

Applied Biophysics now offers a microscope stage holder that fits into a standard inverted manual or motorized microscope stage with a plate opening dimensions of 160mm x 110mm. The stage holder accepts two 8 well ECIS arrays and includes the ECIS array clamps with 60" cables to connect to the ECIS controller.  This allows simultaneous optical viewing and impedance measurement of cell activity.


New
m8W10E+ Mini-Array 

  

The m8W10E+ is our "mini" version of the 8W10E+ array.  The base of the mini-array is a specially designed opaque printed circuit board having 20 active electrodes that are 354 micrometers in diameter in each well. This results in impedance measurements that look familiar to those using other 10E+ arrays. The difference is in the well size which has a substrate area of only 0.28cm2 and a maximum well capacity of 300 microliters. The smaller well size means that less reagents and cells are required for experimental runs.  

 

Like other 10E+ arrays, the mini array is designed to monitor a large number of cells, reducing impedance fluctuations due to random cell movements (micromotion), and samples cells over the entire well bottom. This affordable array is a good option for researchers using expensive cells or reagents or for those on a budget and do not need to visualize cells under a microscope.  

 

The m8W10E+ mini-array is supported by software version 1.2.70 or higher and is sold in quantities of 6. 

 


Join us in Regensburg, Germany August 10 - 12, 2011 Regensburg 2

 
Applied BioPhysics and ibidi GmbH are proud to sponsor a symposium on Impedance Based Cellular Assays (IBCA) 2011 in Regensburg, Germany. Following the success of ECIS 2009 in Regensburg and the ECIS Users Meeting 2010 in Rensselaerville, NY, the IBCA 2011 will bring together researchers in the life sciences using and developing impedance-based methods. The meeting will take place August 11-12, 2011 at the University of Regensburg. A pre-meeting workshop will be presented by Applied BioPhysics on August 10, 2011.

For more information visit www.ibca2011.net or send an email to:
info@ibca2011.net

 
 
ECIS Early Career Grant

Applied BioPhysics would like to help young scientists obtain funding. The ECIS mini-grant is aimed at early career scientists who are applying for their first RO1 grant. For a researcher wanting to use ECIS technology to achieve their research goals, Applied BioPhysics will provide an ECIS instrument, ECIS arrays, and consultation in order to generate preliminary data to support the applicant's RO1 proposal. Interested scientists should submit their research plan with a cover letter explaining how ECIS technology can be used to achieve their specific objectives. Applied BioPhysics will evaluate proposals based on scientific merit, suitability with ECIS technology and novelty. 


To apply please send a resume, RO1 research plan and cover letter to Dr. Christian Renken at

renken@biophysics.com.

 

 

Applied BioPhysics High School Intern Wins Award

 

Kate Berdan attends Tech Valley High School in nearby Rensselaer, NY. As part of the school's strong emphasis on math, science and technology, students in their junior year carry out special projects related to science and engineering. Kate chose to do an internship over a period of several weeks this winter at Applied BioPhysics. In her project she studied the ECIS technology, became proficient in cell culturing methods, and carried out some of the initial testing of the 8Z ECIS instrument and its software. We were all thoroughly impressed with this poised, intelligent, and most capable young woman.

 

We recently were delighted to learn that she was honored with an award from the New York State Capital District Section of the Society of Women Engineers, recognizing her success in math, science, and technology and her desire for a future career in engineering or science. Kate stated that she thought her project with Applied BioPhysics had much to do with her nomination, but we know it is Kate's exceptional qualities that netted her the award.

 

Congratulations Kate!

 

 

 

ECIS Software   

 

Exporting the graph data values

 

Actual data values that are displayed on a graph can be exported to a CSV file by selecting File | Export Data | Graph Data.  They can then be imported into a CSV file into Excel.  This feature is very useful if you have formatted the data using the options such as Normalize or Difference, where the software has already performed the preprocessing.  Any Error Bar data will also be exported.

 

New Feature: Multi-Well Rapid Time Collection

 

The Rapid Time Collect (RTC) option collects data points at a rate greater than 1 per second. This is normally limited to a single well and single frequency, but it is now possible to monitor multiple wells sequentially, each for a specified period of time.   This process can then be repeated for a desired number of cycles.     

If you are interested in this feature please contact us at info@biophysics.com, and we will provide the necessary software and instructions.

 

Other New Features: Coming soon

 

We are currently beta-testing a number of new features:   

-    Average and bin data points

-        User specified graph line style and width, and marker style

-        Standard Deviation or Standard Error of the Mean for error bars with grouped data

 

If you wish to try them out, please contact info@biophysics.com.

ECIS Webinar Schedule 2011

ECIS application webinars review the topics listed below in 20 to 30 minute, web-based, interactive seminars presented by Applied BioPhysics president and co-founder, Dr. Charles Keese.

All webinars are held at 11:00am EST. To register for a webinar, please go to:
https://appliedbiophysics.webex.com and scroll to the webinar date of interest.    

 

Cell Attachment and Spreading Measurements - 11:00 AM EDST July 26, 2011  

Signal Transduction Assays - 11:00 AM EDST September 13, 2011  

Toxicology with ECIS - 11:00 AM EDST September 27, 2011  

ECIS Theory - 11:00 AM EDST October 11, 2011  

Cell Invasion / Extravasation Assays - 11:00 AM EDST October 25, 2011  

Automated Cell Migration - 11:00 AM EDST November 8, 2011  

Barrier Function Assays - 11:00 AM EST November 29, 2011  

Real-time Electroporation and Monitoring - 11:00 AM EST December 13, 2011 

 

For a more detailed description of each webinar, please visit: http://www.biophysics.com/webinar.php

New Publications
 

 

Contribution of lethal toxin and edema toxin to the pathogenesis of anthrax meningitis.

CM Ebrahimi, TR Sheen, CW Renken, RA Gottlieb, and KS Doran. Infect Immun. 2011.    

 

Epac-Rap Signaling Reduces Cellular Stress and Ischemia-induced Kidney Failure.
Geurt Stokman, Yu Qin, Hans-Gottfried Genieser, Frank Schwede, Emile de Heer, Johannes L. Bos, Ingeborg M. Bajema, Bob van de Water, and Leo S. Price. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 2011; 22:859-872.   


ABCB1 Protects Kidney Proximal Tubule Cells Against Cadmium-Induced Apoptosis: Roles of Cadmium and Ceramide Transport. Wing-Kee Lee, Blazej Torchalski, Naschla Kohistani, and Frank Thévenod
Toxicol. Sci. 2011; 121:343-356.    


Cross-talk between Carboxypeptidase M and the Kinin B1 Receptor Mediates a New Mode of G Protein-coupled Receptor Signaling. Xianming Zhang, Fulong Tan, Viktor Brovkovych, Yongkang Zhang, and Randal A. Skidgel J. Biol. Chem. 2011; 286:18547-18561.     


Site-directed Mutagenesis of the CC Chemokine Binding Protein 35K-Fc Reveals Residues Essential for Activity and Mutations That Increase the Potency of CC Chemokine Blockade. Gemma E White, Eileen McNeill, Ivy Christou, Keith M Channon, and David R Greaves. Mol. Pharmacol. published 17 May 2011, 10.1124/mol.111.071985     


A Potential Role for Angiopoietin 2 in the Regulation of the Blood-Retinal Barrier in Diabetic Retinopathy. Sampathkumar Rangasamy, Ramprasad Srinivasan, Joann Maestas, Paul G. McGuire, and Arup Das Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2011; 52:3784-3791.     


Effects of a synthetic PEG-ylated Tie-2 agonist peptide on endotoxemic lung injury and mortality.
Sascha David, Chandra C. Ghosh, Philipp Kümpers, Nelli Shushakova, Paul Van Slyke, Eliyahu V. Khankin, S. Ananth Karumanchi, Dan Dumont, and Samir M. Parikh. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2011; 300:L851-L862.      

Telomerase-based immortalization modifies the angiogenic/inflammatory responses of human coronary artery endothelial cells. Yvonne Baumer, Beate Scholz, Svetlana Ivanov, and Burkhard Schlosshauer. Exp Biol Med. 2011; 236:692-700.      

 

ERM are Phosphorylated in Response to 2-methoxyestradiol and Modulate Endothelial Hyperpermeability. Natalia V Bogatcheva, Marina A Zemskova, Boris A Gorshkov, Kyung Mi Kim, Gregory A Daglis, Christophe Poirier, and Alexander D Verin. Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. published 9 June 2011, 10.1165/rcmb.2011-0092OC      

 

Survivin upregulation, dependent on leptin-EGFR-Notch1 axis, is essential for leptin-induced migration of breast carcinoma cells. Brandi B Knight, Gabriela M Oprea-Ilies, Arumugam Nagalingam, Lily Yang, Cynthia Cohen, Neeraj K Saxena, and Dipali Sharma. Endocr. Relat. Cancer. 2011; 18:413-428.       

 

Inflammation and epithelial cell injury in AIDS enteropathy: involvement of endoplasmic reticulum stress. Ferdinand Maingat, Brendan Halloran, Shaona Acharjee, Guido van Marle, Deirdre Church, M. John Gill, Richard R. E. Uwiera, Eric A. Cohen, Jon Meddings, Karen Madsen, and Christopher Power. FASEB J. 2011; 25:2211-2220.       

 

Real-time monitoring of neural differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells by electric cell-substrate impedance sensing. HE Park, D Kim, HS Koh, S Cho, JS Sung, and JY Kim. J Biomed Biotechnol. 2011; 2011: 485173. 

 

_______________________________________________________________________

Have you recently published an article that includes the use of ECIS?
If so, submit your publications to Applied BioPhysics via email to Nancy Vlahos at vlahos@biophysics.com. We will announce your article in our newsletter, post it on our website and send you 2 FREE 8 well arrays!


Visit Us at Upcoming Events

Representatives from Applied BioPhysics will be at the following tradeshows and events:    

Impedance Based Cellular Assays (IBCA)

August 10 - 12

Regensburg, Germany

 

Annual Meeting of the North American Vascular Biology Organization 

October 16 - 20

Hyannis, MA  

 

1st International Meeting on Ion Channel Signaling Mechanisms   

October 31 - November 4
Marrakesh, Morocco


American Society for Cell Biology 

December 3 -7
 
Denver, CO
     
Tip of the Month:  

 

In addition to conducting an experimental control with cells, we also recommend doing a cell-free, medium-only well.  The cell-free well has two important functions.  First, it records any change in impedance unrelated to cell behavior. For example, changes in solution conductivity and electrode impedance resulting from evaporation of medium from wells or variations in incubator temperature and pH.  If data is exported to Excel, the cell-free data can be subtracted from the other wells to report impedance changes resulting from the cells alone.

 

Secondly, when taking multiple frequency time course data (MFT), the cell-free well will record the frequency response of the open electrode over time.  This data is important to have when modeling data to report changes in the barrier function. 

 
ECIS Humor

Need a good laugh? Visit the ECIS Cartoons page of our website to view cartoons by Catherine, our in-house cartoonist, to start your day with a smile.

Are you the creative type? Submit one of your own cartoons; if we post it on our website we will send you a free array!

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