The Bjarnsholt lab at the Costerton Biofilm Center finalized the purchase of a calScreener™ as part of a Novo Nordisk Fonden Tandem grant to study atopic dermatitis.
[STOCKHOLM, 12 December 2019] Symcel – a company providing real-time metabolic measurements for cell culture with their product calScreener™ has now expanded further in the biofilm market. The lab of Professor Thomas Bjarnsholt from the Costerton Biofilm Center at the University of Copenhagen will use the calScreener™ to measure the metabolism of complex models, including eukaryotic cells and multi-species biofilm.
“This is a fantastic early Christmas present, to be the proud owner of a calScreener. We have for a long time searched for a new method or assay to determine direct metabolic activity of bacteria and host cells. With the calScreener we are able to investigate the interaction and responses between bacteria and host cells in relation to both skin disorders such as atopic dermatitis but also infections in general. With this technology we will be able to unravel these interactions in greater depth than before, hopefully to the benefit of the patients suffering from these conditions.” commented Professor Thomas Bjarnsholt.
The calScreener™, which has been used extensively for bacterial cell culture is a perfect fit for many different types of microbiology applications, including complex models. The technology allows for extremely sensitive measurements of metabolism in real-time. The calScreener™ can take any sample in a small, custom holder and measure the metabolism of the sample by detecting minute amounts of heat flow. This means that the entire process is fast, precise and completely label-free.
The calScreener™ which is now at the Costerton Biofilm Center in Copenhagen was purchased with the help of a Novo Nordisk Fonden Tandem grant to study a complex model of atopic dermatitis. The project aims to look at the interplay between the immune system, the microbiome and the bacteria causing atopic dermatitis in a time-resolved manner. The calScreener™ will be able to give a dynamic picture of the metabolism of different samples over the course of an experiment. In this way, the researchers hope to find out if changes in metabolism are linked to specific stages of the disease. This important work will help to understand a disease which is routinely treated, but not cured, by antibiotics which leads to the development of resistance.
“We are very happy that Professor Bjarnsholt, who is at the absolute forefront of research into chronic infections, biofilm and related areas, will be using the calScreener™ extensively in the coming years. The sale of this calScreener™ is an exciting continued commercial validation of the technology and also opens up for collaborative development of new applications for the future together with the team at the Costerton center. Scientific validation has been underway for several years, including in a EU funded Horizon 2020 project (784514) used to investigate the effectiveness of antimicrobials on bacteria. We are confident that our technology will play a key role for measuring microbial metabolism at high resolution, as one of the means to help researchers like Professor Bjarnsholt to develop new treatments for complex bacterial infections.” commented Jesper Ericsson, CEO of Symcel.
Symcel Company Info
Symcel provides a novel cell-based assay tool for real-time cellular metabolism measurements. Our solution is a fast, label-free phenotypic screening technology for direct measurements of cell metabolism that provides real-time answers to how cells behave under different conditions. Symcel was founded in 2004 by Dr. Dan Hallén and Prof. Ingemar Wadsö. Dr Wadsö is a leading authority around bioactivity measurements and has together with colleagues at Lund University been instrumental in the development of the field. The current research team at Symcel has extensive experience in multiple disciplines within the biotechnology industry as well as the pharmaceutical development industry.
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