Acea Biosciences xCELLigence RTCA Cardio Real Time Cell Analyzer

The xCELLigence RTCA Cardio instrument expands upon ACEA’s microelectronic-based cellular assay systems to enable monitoring of cardiomyocyte beating for cardiotoxicity assessment. While it is similar to our other xCELLigence instruments in its use of noninvasive electrical impedance monitoring to asses cellular morphology change and attachment quality in a label-free and real-time manner, the Cardio model has a higher rate of data acquisition (every 12.9 milliseconds). Because cell-induced electrical impedance is dependent on cell size/shape and how strongly the cell interacts with the plate bottom, the contraction-relaxation cycle of cardiomyocytes gives rise to a distinct, rhythmic fluctuation in impedance that is readily captured on the millisecond time scale. Changes in the intensity and periodicity of this “beating” pattern can be monitored in the short (seconds) to long (days) time regimes to assess cardiomyocyte contractility and viability in the presence of different drugs. This enables the evaluation of both short-term and long-term (chronic exposure or repeat dosing) cardiotoxicity for clinical safety testing under conditions that are maximally physiologically relevant.

The xCELLigence RTCA Cardio instrument, which analyzes cells in an electronic 96-well microtiter plate format (E-Plate Cardio 96), is placed in a standard CO2 cell culture incubator and interfaces via a cable with analysis and control units that are housed outside the incubator. User friendly software allows for real-time control and monitoring of the instrument, and includes real-time data display and analysis functions that provide quantitative information about the health of the cells, including viability and beating activity/irregularity.

The analysis of human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes with the xCELLigence RTCA Cardio instrument has proven to be an extremely accurate, highly predictive in vitro assay for assessing drug-induced cardiac liability. Since 2010, more than 20 such studies have been published. The results collectively show that the xCELLigence RTCA Cardio system addresses previously unmet needs in in vitro cardio safety screening by:

Being a high-throughput method for detecting functional cardiotoxicity (effects on short-term and long-term cardio beating activity) and general toxicity in vitro

Having good correlation with clinical arrhythmogenic risk

Providing insight into compound mechanism of action