Cell-based Assays

BioVision is proud to offer an expanding selection of assays to study some fundamental processes governing cellular biology. Assays to study different aspects of cellular behavior (progression through the cell cycle, migration, invasion) and measure the content of key building blocks in the cell are commonly used to monitor the health of cells in culture and their response to various stimuli (migration inducers, cell cycle arrest drugs, cholesterol transport inhibitors etc.).

The cell cycle is the collection of steps by which eukaryotic cells duplicate and divide. The cell cycle consists of two specific and distinct phases: interphase, consisting of G1 (Gap 1), S (synthesis), and G2 (Gap 2), and the mitotic phase: M (mitosis). Each phase of the cell cycle is tightly regulated, and checkpoints exist to detect potential DNA damage and allow it to be repaired before a cell divides. If the damage cannot be repaired, a cell becomes targeted for apoptosis. Cells can also reversibly stop dividing and temporarily enter a quiescent or senescent state - G0. There are checkpoints at the end of G1 and at the end of G2. When a cell breaches these checkpoints and divides uncontrollably, it leads to tumor growth. Our cell cycle assay allows quantification of cells at different stages of the cell cycle, and can be used for high throughput analysis as well.

Migration is a key property of live cells and critical for normal development, immune response as well as disease processes such as cancer metastasis and inflammation. Methods to examine cell migration are important for a wide range of biomedical research such as cancer biology, immunology, vascular biology, cell biology and developmental biology. In fact studying the migratory and invasive behavior of tumor and stromal cells and understanding the underlying mechanisms is most relevant for novel strategies in cancer diagnosis, prognosis, drug development and treatment. Our cell invasion assay and various cell migration assays offer specific options designed for different cell types and applications.

We also offer a cellular cholesterol detection kit which enables study of cholesterol movement within the cell and this is a critical component of cellular biology since aberrant cholesterol metabolism and vesicular trafficking can lead to heart disease, obesity, Diabetes, etc.