Assay development is needed to qualitatively assess a compound or examine a compound’s effects. Whether the effect of a drug is correctly characterised, or the course of a patient's disease can be correctly diagnosed, depends primarily on the validity of the assays used. It is therefore important to proceed with the utmost care in the development and selection of all assays.
An assay is an investigative procedure used in pharmacology, diagnostic medicine, environmental biology or molecular biology, to measure the presence, quantity or activity of a target entity. The analyte can thereby be a drug, a compound but also an enzyme, a cell or a whole organism. A bioassay is a combination of science and statistical methods to determine (relative) potency.
Such assays exist in very different types from antibody-based assays such as ELISAs, enzyme activity assays, reporter assays, protein/protein interaction or nucleic acid quantification assays up to sophisticated assays such as single-molecule activation assays in drug screening.
Failure in the correct development of a bioassay will cause problems e.g., in the approval of drugs or may completely prevent licensure as high-quality standards are required here. Most of the problems associated with bioassay-related quality standards can be avoided with correct development, qualification, validation and control of the reference standard.
BMG LABTECH microplate readers represent an ideal platform to address key steps in assay development. Equipped with features like temperature incubation and CO2 and O2 gas control, and able to shake and even add reagents via the injector system, microplate readers can also be used for multiple steps in the workflow of the assay procedure, instead of being used only for measurement. This enables holistic monitoring of the entire assay procedure under realistic conditions, significantly reducing potential sources of error during assay development. Multi-mode readers also allow the direct comparison and easy switching between different detection modes during assay development. Thanks to BMG LABTECH’s patented LVF Monochromator, users of the CLARIOstar Plus and the VANTAstar enjoy very high flexibility in the selection of assay-specific wavelengths and bandwidths with filter-like sensitivity. This feature is particularly advantageous for assay development, as measurement settings, such as the ideal measurement wavelength, are usually not pre-determined and may vary among different assays. The same applies to signal intensities, which are often difficult to predict during development. With the Enhanced Dynamic Range feature, very dim and very bright signals can be detected automatically with the optimal settings.
Automation is an important prerequisite when high-throughput analyses are required. Microplate readers from BMG LABTECH can easily be integrated in automated systems. Small footprint, multiple robotic software interfaces and an automation-friendly plate carrier guarantee an easy integration into all leading robotic platforms. BMG LABTECH's analysis software MARS simplifies and automates recurring data analysis and interpretation, which is a great support especially for large throughputs.
Search our resources section for information about specific applications, literature citations, videos, blog articles and many other publications. Many of the resources provided are associated with current and previous instrument models and versions.
Dual luciferase assay was yesterday. Read here how the CLARIOstar allows to measure a multiplex assay applying six luciferases in the same run and first helps to find the best combination.
Read how an AlphaLISA protein-protein interaction assay helps to screen for re-purposed drugs as targeted disruptors for the interaction between ACE2 and SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
Learn how to apply Parallel Line Analysis in BMG LABTECHs MARS data analysis software to inhibitor binding data to assess binding potencies of Prostaglandin D synthase inhibitors.
Tired of autofluorescence or looking for multiplexing possibilities? Roll out the red carpet – for the CLARIOstar Plus with excellent performance in measuring red-shifted fluorophores.
Learn here how the novel Enhanced Dynamic Range (EDR) technology of the CLARIOstar supersedes time consuming optimisation measurements and simplifies enzymatic reaction monitoring.
Nephelometric turbidity units (NTUs) refer to the concentration of particles to describe the quality of water. Read how the NEPHELOstar® Plus microplate nephelometer determines NTUs in low sample volume.
Redox processes play an important role in cell homeostasis. Read here, how to monitor cellular redox changes with roGFP using the most sensitive, high-performance plate readers from BMG LABTECH.
Interested in the acceleration possibilities in the process of drug approval? Daniel Thomas from Arctoris suggests possible entry points based on the example of drugs against SARS-CoV-2.
Watch here, how the PHERAstar’s extraordinary sensitivity allows to detect TR-FRET assays with high reliability and reproducibility even in miniaturized sample volumes using 1536-well plates.
Joao used a CLARIOstar Plus and a PHERAstar FSX, for assay development and compound screening against a viral exonuclease.
Rauf Latif uses the CLARIOstar for his research into developing novel small-molecule agonists and antagonists to the thyroid stimulating hormone receptor.
Watch in this customer story how Almac implemented a hit-finding platform for the discovery of novel inhibitors of DeUBiquitinating enzymes
Petro Halkowycz from Takeda California Inc. explains why he decided to purchase the CLARIOstar Microplate Reader from BMG LABTECH.
Most flexible Plate Reader for Assay Development
Flexible microplate reader with simplified workflows
Absorbance plate reader with cuvette port
