Perform Functional Assays with Living Cells
It is critical for drug screening programs to gain a global view of the cytotoxic effects of potential drug candidates. In combination with traditional cytotoxicity assays, functional assays provide insight into the effects of drugs and compounds on normal cellular function. Sensitive functional assays like calcium flux assays, which utilize a fluorescent dye to monitor changes in intracellular calcium, aid in understanding the full scope of cytotoxicity. Calcium flux assays have been utilized to investigate the effects of compounds on cardiomyocyte pacing and neuron electrophysiology. Maintaining physiological environmental conditions and being able to perform fast kinetic imaging is ideal for running functional assays.