Wound healing assay or scratch assay is a commonly used method to study collective cell migration in vitro. This method is based on the observation that, upon creation of an artificial gap (‘scratch’) on a confluent cell monolayer, the cells on the edge of the scratch will migrate towards the opening and establish new cell-cell connections, hence closing the gap. The initial steps of a wound healing assay involve the creation of a scratch in a cell monolayer, subsequent capture of images at multiple time points to monitor the progression of gap closure, and quantification of the percentage of gap closure and/or cell migration rate1.
With wound healing/scratch assay/cell migration assays:
Using the capabilities of the plate imager, users can investigate the migration patterns of cells in multi-well plates and compare multiple treatments/conditions.
Here, a wound healing assay was performed to study the migration of C6 rat glioma cells. The Omni allows users to visualize the progression of the gap closure, providing an overview of multiple wells (Figure 1A) as well as zooming in on selected wells or areas of the scratch (Figure 1A; Figure 2). The integrated image analysis algorithm automatically highlights (in blue; Figure 1A) the areas of the wells lacking cells; it also quantifies the gap surface closure (Figure 1B) and cell migration speed (Figure 1C).
Another example highlights the advantage of using the Omni for high-throughput comparison of multiple test samples. In the video below, NIH-3T3 mouse fibroblasts were seeded in a single 96-well plate and treated with a range of concentrations of a myosin II inhibitor, blebbistatin, and an inhibitor of actin polymerization, cytochalasin D. Next, the cells were subjected to in vitro scratch assay. The images were captured using the Omni for 48 hours with a 1-hour imaging interval. The results show that increasing concentrations of blebbistatin and cytochalasin D lead to inhibition of NIH-3T3 cell migration.
>> Assay your cells in brightfield and fluorescence – From label-free cell monitoring to fluorescence-based assays, add dynamic visual data in any experiment.
>> Maintain the optimal culture environment – The Omni and Lux platforms operate within an incubator.
>> Track every moment – Automatically capture images as your cells grow in their optimal environment.
>> Get started quickly – Our live-cell analysis platforms are designed to be simple and flexible. With a host of analysis modules available, it is easy to adapt the systems to meet your needs.
