Accelerating Scratch Assays with Real-Time Monitoring

Cellular assays provide researchers with powerful insights into biological processes, including wound healing. However, scratch assays, the staple cell-based screening method in wound healing research, typically depend on manual intervention and microscopy which impedes throughput. True “walk-away” solutions for cellular analysis and health monitoring help scientists accelerate cell growth assays and analysis with the added confidence of maintaining cell health.

Scientists can perform scratch wound assays in 96-well plates, using auto-bioluminescent cells and microplate readers to visualize changes in cellular localization after creating gaps in confluent cell monolayers within the wells. With the right microplate reader, this approach not only allows researchers to capture cell movement with higher throughput than conventional microscopy methods but also supports hands-off cell health monitoring in real-time.

For instance, the gas and temperature control provided by microplate readers such as BMG LABTECH's CLARIOstar® ^Plus with Atmospheric Control Unit (ACU) eliminates the need to shuffle microplates to and from the incubator, increasing throughput and reducing manual intervention.

Scientists can cultivate and measure cells inside the reader for up to 72 hours after adding fresh culture medium, depending on cell type and number of cells in the well. The well scanning feature, called Matrix Scan, uses a 900 data point matrix to monitor entire microplate wells, allowing researchers to follow cell layer regrowth after a scratch wound. Finally, the CLARIOstar ^Plus microplate reader enables free selection of the measurement wavelength via its patented linear variable filter (LVF) Monochromator™ and the Enhanced Dynamic Range function, eliminating the need for manual gain adjustments and providing assay flexibility.

Learn more about microplate reader-based scratch wound assays.