I seem to be in an ‘assay’ mood (Feb. 7, 2012) as this is today’s second posting where the topic arises.  NanoInk has issued a Feb. 7, 2012 press release announcing some new contract services from its NanoFabrication Systems Division. The bit I found most interesting was this,

Saju Nettikadan, Ph.D., director of applications development at NanoInk, said, “NanoInk findings also show that two different cell types can be placed at defined locations on a single chip to form single cell co-cultures. [emphasis mine] We have demonstrated the single cell co-culture proof-of-concept using 3T3 fibroblasts and C2C12 myoblasts. As part of our live single cell assay contract research program, we welcome requests to design and develop custom assays.”

Let’s get back to the new service being offered,

NanoInk’s® NanoFabrication Systems Division announced today that it introduced a new contract services program dedicated to the development of live single cell array assays. This offering supplements NanoInk’s portfolio of Dip Pen Nanolithography® (DPN®)-based systems and tools used for micro and nanopatterning applications to include a service component. Life scientists now have even more ways to access the advantages of DPN for their research.

At the heart of the NanoFabrication Systems’ contract services program is its DPN nanofabrication instruments capable of constructing complex multiplexed patterns of biocompatible materials at subcellular scales. This capability can be utilized to construct defined microenvironments for attaching live single cells and subsequently investigating cellular responses. Single cells (up to 5,000 individual cells on a single NanoInk chip) can be exposed to different external stimuli (including biological, chemical and topographical stimuli) and the downstream effects of these stimuli can be monitored at the cellular, proteomic or genomic levels. Additionally, studies on limited or rare cells harvested from a patient can potentially be exposed to many conditions, making theranostic applications possible. This new contract services program will enable researchers to engage NanoInk to design, develop and construct custom single cell assays.

“We believe that NanoInk’s single cell assay technology has the potential to revolutionize in vitro cell biology research, including applications in drug toxicity testing and drug screening. Micropatterned single cells can also be harnessed to probe underlying mechanisms of cell behavior like cell-cell interactions, cell-surface interactions, cell migration, and cell invasion,” explained Tom Warwick, general manager of the NanoFabrication Systems Division.

For anyone who’s not familiar with the word assay or, like me, knows it only as a term used in mining and geology, here’s a definition of assay as it relates to diagnoses (from TheFreeDictionary),

diagnostic test assay – a quantitative or qualitative test of a substance (especially an ore or a drug) to determine its components; frequently used to test for the presence or concentration of infectious agents or antibodies etc. [emphasis mine]

Yes, I was surprised to realize the meaning is roughly the same.

Here’s one final tidbit from the news release and contact information should be you in need of their services,

NanoInk has already demonstrated the ability of its nanofabrication platform to place single cells at defined locations on a substrate and to then expose individual cells to small molecules and nanoparticles.

…

For more information on nanofabrication instruments and tools, as well as the new single cell assay contract services program, please contact Tom Warwick at twarwick@nanoink.net, (847)679-NANO (6266) or visit www.nanoink.net/divisions.html#NanoFabrication.

You can find out more about NanoInk here.