From Acquisition to Analysis: Tools to Improve the High Content Screening Workflow for Stem Cell Assays

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Molecular Devices

Enhancement of neurogenesis by pharmaceutical agents may improve functional outcome after neuronal damage. Accordingly, there is a great interest in using neuronal stem cells as efficient screening tools in early drug development for diseases such as stroke, brain damage, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other neurological disorders. Neuron progenitor cells (NPC), either human, mouse, or rat, form small clusters of cells called neurospheres, where they can be maintained in an undifferentiated, proliferative state. Neuronal progenitors can then be directed to form different types of cells, including neurons and astrocytes. Many assays and techniques have been developed for these processes, but further improvements are needed. Here we describe two new assays that can be used to monitor differentiation.