The Cellometer instruments have a wide range of functionality – this publication demonstrates how an instrument such as the Cellometer Vision can be used for more than just viability and can perform many cell-based assays.

Fructose differs from glucose in that it is not regulated by a negative feedback loop and can thereby negatively impact intracellular energy stores. As the incidence of diabetes and obesity have risen in this country, so has the intake of fructose, making fructose’s effects on pancreatic cells important to understand. Here, researchers at Rowan University revealed that fructose sensitizes pancreatic beta cells to TNF-a-induced toxicity. Cultured cells were exposed to fructose spikes followed by an addition of TNF-a. The Cellometer Vision was used to assess viability (via propidium iodide), caspase-3 activation (via NucView 488 kit), and ROS (via MitoSOX dye) in pancreatic beta cells. Researchers reported that cell viability dropped when cells were exposed to a fructose spike but not when they were exposed to glucose alone. The cell death was caused by fructose-induced necroptosis and the resulting increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) upon exposure was blocked by the pre-diabetic drug pioglitazone, which inhibits the TNF-a-mediated accumulation of mitochondrial iron.

You can read the full publication here. 

If you’re interested to learn more about the different cell-based assays that can be performed with just 20uL of sample with the Cellometer Vision, contact us at info@nexcelom.com or visit our website.