PHOTOBONDING
Your Partner for Clean and Super-Clear Organ-on-Chip and Microfluidics Developments
Developed by USHIO in collaboration with the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) at Kyoto University (Japan), the CEP Microplate was designed to minimize contamination, for improved results in three-dimensional cell culture and organs-on-chips.
OUR TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE
Ushio’s Photobonding® technology has applications in organs-on-chips (OoC) where residual glues and solvents must be avoided
Super-transparent COP organs-on-chip by PhotobondingTM technology
IMPROVED MICROSCOPY
Due to the inherent characteristics of the COP resin (high transparency, low auto-fluorescence, low absorption, meniscus-free structure, etc.), better results can be obtained in fluorescence and bright-field microscopy
ADHESIVE-FREE AND SOLVENT-FREE TECHNOLOGY
Manufactured using Ushio’s proprietary Photobonding® approach which does not involve the use of any adhesives, organic solvents or coating agents*
Plates do not contain residual adhesives or solvents which can lead to cytotoxicity.
(Left graph: apoptosis ratio comparison. In an experiment comparing the maturation of iPS cells, it was seen that no significant apoptosis ratio (<5%) was found when the Ushio COP-based microplate was used. In contrast, an alternative microplate led to an apoptosis ration > 25%. Even though the competitive microplate was advertised as glue-free, it was apparently prepared using organic solvents or other coating agents whose residual levels impacted cell viability. Clearly, the purity of the microplates is critical in achieving satisfactory results in cell experiments.)
MORE EFFICIENT CELL CULTURE
Due to the small size of the Ushio system, reduced volumes of cells and drug molecules are required, leading to reduced costs and improved efficiency. Furthermore, drug screening can be accomplished more easily with cells which proliferate slowly.
PHOTOBONDING CONCEPTUAL VIDEO
CASE STUDIES
CEP for 3D micro cell culture platform
DIRECT MICROSCOPIC ANALYSIS OF IPS-DERIVED NAFLD DISEASE
MODELLED HEPATOCYTES USING USHIO CEP PLATE
Due to the complexity of the flow structure, direct microscopic analysis has been problematic when using organs-on-chip or microfluidics apparatus. The CEP Plates have the clear advantages of not incorporating use of adhesives, organic
solvents or coating agents to adhere multi-layers of COP resin (resulting in high transparency, low auto-fluorescence, low absorption and meniscus-free for example) which would allow improved direct microscopic analysis. This technology
simply uses a 172 nm Xenon excimer lamp as a light source to create the physical bond, known as Photobonding® technology. A study was conducted to culture iPSC-derived NAFLD/PNPLA3 hepatocytes in the CEP Plates. iPSC-derived hepatocytes edited for PNPLA3/I148M mutation (KI and KO) and the wild-type cells were grown in the CEP Plates for two weeks before checking for fatty acid accumulation using direct microscopy.
IPS/ES CELL
DIFFERENTIATION PLATFORM
The CEP plate can be used as a cell maturation platform offering a 3D culturing environment.
In a Liver-on-a-Chip application, the differentiation and maturation of iPS cells was conducted using the CEP platform. Increased hepatic function, quantified using hepatic function markers such as CYP450s, was observed compared to cells matured with standard 2d cell plates
CREATION OF DISEASE MODELS IN A MICROSCALE CULTURE
The CEP plate can be used as a platform to prepare specific disease models such as NASH/NAFLD models.
The CEP plate can offer simpler morphological and immunofluorescence (IFA) results by direct observation without removing the cells from the plate
COMPOUND SCREENING (MIDDLE THROUGHPUT)
48 well channels allow quantitative evaluation including direct imaging analysis to compare efficacy of various drug candidates, or dosage level
