CytoSoft® Imaging 96-well Plate

Overview

Cells can be cultured using CytoSoft^®-Imaging products on PDMS substrates with rigidities of 0.2, 0.5, 2, 8, 16, 32, and 64 kPa. One glass-bottomed 96-well plate is included with this CytoSoft^®-Imaging plate to enable high-resolution cell imaging on the chosen stiffness.

This CytoSoft^® Imaging 96-well product has a glass bottom for high-resolution imaging and a defined elastic modulus. Each well has a silicone layer that is about 0.03 mm thick and has a uniform silicone gel thickness. Before the addition of cells, the silicone gels are activated and prepared to bind to a purified ECM, such as PureCol^® type I collagen (#5005).

Image Credit: Advanced BioMatrix

Features

• Cell morphology and gene expression can be significantly influenced by how rigid the substrate is to which cells adhere
• Utilizing a thin layer of biocompatible silicone, CytoSoft^® products offer a method for cultivating cells on substrates with different degrees of rigidity to accommodate a wide range of physiological conditions
• For high-resolution imaging applications requiring minimal autofluorescence and exceptional optical clarity, the CytoSoft^® - Imaging plate has a glass bottom. High-throughput cell studies and screening work best in the 96-well format
• The plate has a lid and a bottom made of #1.5-thick glass that is attached to a frame made of black polystyrene
• Each package contains one plate that has been sterilized using ozone

Applications

• A thin layer of specially formulated biocompatible silicone with an elastic modulus (rigidity) that has been meticulously measured and certified covers the bottom of each well
• In CytoSoft^® products, the gel surfaces are functionalized to create covalent bonds with protein amines
• The gel surfaces can be coated with matrix proteins and cells can be plated more easily because the chemical functionalization is stable and the reaction does not need a catalyst
• The optical clarity and level of auto-florescence on the silicone substrates are both extremely low
• Each well’s layer of silicone is firmly attached to the well’s base
• Contrary to hydrogels (like polyacrylamide gels), silicone gels are resistant to hydrolysis, do not dry out or swell, are tough and resilient to tearing or cracking, and their elastic moduli (rigidities) stay largely unchanged over the course of prolonged storage
• Products from CytoSoft^®-Imaging support live cell staining with membrane and cell-permeable dyes, cell fixation with widely used methods like paraformaldehyde, and immunostaining of fixed cells

Source: Advanced BioMatrix