Infectivity Assay

Degenerative changes in cells due to pathogenic infections, such as cell rounding, swelling/shrinking, and granularity, known as a Cytopathic Effect (CPE) can be rapidly assessed using Celigo. Using brightfield, whole-well images, automated segmentation and analysis, Celigo provides quantitative output of CPE based on characteristic changes to the host cell monolayer. Replicate samples of viral infectivity at various titers can be quantified using a range of multi-well plate for reliable results. Celigo provides several key benefits:

• Objective segmentation and analysis provides quantitative output of magnitude of infection (MOI)
• Automated sample analysis reduces time, labor and variability
• High throughput and scalable: <10 min for 96-well or 384-well plate
• Capture high resolution, whole-well images for documentation, audit trail, or manual assessment of CPE
• Supports related fluorescent -based functional assays relevant to infectivity (e.g. expression analysis, apoptosis)

Infectivity assay on Celigo. Live images of mammalian cells with increasing levels of infection. Magnitude of infection (MOI) was analyzed using cell counting and confluency measurements. Images courtesy of an anonymous customer.

Infectivity assay of BT cells on Celigo. Live images of uninfected and BVD (bovine viral diarrhea) infected BT (bovine turbinate) cells. Celigo’s cell counting results demonstrate 100% correlation with manual CPE assessment via light microscopy. Images courtesy of an anonymous customer.

Representative heatmap on Celigo. The heatmap shows the results of the BVD infectivity assay (images shown above), reporting uninfected wells (green) and infected wells (red). Data courtesy of an anonymous customer.