Application Notes

Observation of Cell Culture Inserts Using Episcopic Brightfield Method

Februar 2023

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a mechanism that limits the exchange of substances between blood vessels and cells in the brain, and is responsible for maintaining the optimal environment for neurological function. A BBB kit consisting of vascular endothelial cells, pericytes and astrocytes, the component cells of the BBB, is an in vitro model utilizing cell culture inserts. The kit is widely used for drug development to treat brain diseases, such as the evaluation of drug delivery to the brain, the study of compound effects on the BBB, the study of cell membrane polarity inhibition by receptors and disease model analysis. The BBB kit has visualization issues with cells under culture at the top and bottom of translucent membranes in the culture inserts, and inside wells. For example, since it is difficult to confirm cell growth states using living cells in the preparatory stage of drug evaluation, whether those cells do not meet the criteria for use due to irregular growth can only be known after confirmation by immunostaining etc. after evaluation. This application note introduces an observation method for cells cultured on cell culture inserts used for the BBB kit, etc.