title: Standardization of automated cell-based protocols for toxicity testing of biomaterials.
abstract: Advances in high-throughput screening (HTS) instrumentation have led to enormous reduction of costs (e.g., of pipetting stations) and to the development of smaller instruments for automation of day-to-day routines in small research laboratories. In the biomaterials community, there has been an increasing interest for standardized screening protocols to identify cell type-specific cytocompatible biomaterials suitable for tissue engineering (TE) applications. In this study, the authors established a multiplexed assay protocol for toxicity screening of biomaterials using a low- to medium-throughput robotic liquid handling station (LHS). The protocol contains analysis of viability, cytotoxicity, and apoptosis combined in one assay. This study includes performance results of a side-by-side comparison of the EpMotion 5070 LHS and conventional pipetting/dispensing systems. Critical parameters were optimized each for a given platform. Higher accuracy and reproducibility were achieved for LHS compared to manually treated samples. The practicability and accuracy of the method in a typical small laboratory setting were tested by running daily routine tasks by trained and untrained laboratory staff. In addition, advantages and disadvantages as well as the step-by-step application protocol are reported. The approach described provides a potential utility in screening biomaterials toxicity, allowing researchers to meet the needs of low- and medium-throughput laboratories.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. mventuraferreira@ukaachen.de
authors.forename: Mónica V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Wilhelm
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jahnen-Dechent
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Neuss
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057205:Automation, Laboratory; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000633:toxicity*; D002460:Cell Line; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays; D051379:Mice; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials