Lonza Issues Calcium Flux Assay in Primary Cells

Lonza has announced the launch of a new assay to measure calcium flux in relevant, primary cells. These Primary Sensors are primary human cells that were transiently transfected with the luminescent calcium biosensor i-Photina® and subsequently loaded with the biosensor’s substrate coelenterazine.

They are offered cryopreserved, and can be used after reactivation. When stimulating intracellular Ca2+ release by activation of endogenously expressed receptors, one is able to assess the potency of potential compounds.

Primary cells allow for a higher predictability of drug reactions in humans. These cells express relevant drug targets at physiological level and genuinely carry all the components required for specific signal transduction. They can be derived from the actual tissue of interest.

These are significant advantages over immortalized cell lines, which may be derived from irrelevant tissue, of non-human origin, and often express transfected drug targets at non-physiological levels.

This ready-to-use, cell based assay system is an excellent tool to study drug effects on calcium signaling in primary cells and will open new roads for more predictable compound screening.