IntraCell: The Latest Technology for Long-Term In Vitro Cardiac Electrophysiology

Founded nearly 30 years ago, Multi Channel Systems (MCS) is a pioneer in the development of commercially available microelectrode arrays (MEA) and their recording systems. MEAs have proven valuable for our understanding of how genetic background, disease pathology, and drugs alter neuronal network activity.

IntraCell (link is external) is the latest laser-based optoporation technology from Foresee Biosystems.  It’s designed for assessing long-term cardiac action potentials from 2D cardiac monolayers and 3D cardiac organoids, and works in conjunction with microelectrode arrays (MEAs) from Multi Channel Systems to enable high-quality recording of action potentials (APs). 

Laser optoporation utilizes advanced optoacoustic mechanisms to create transient nanopores in the cell membrane, allowing the recording of transmembrane ion currents without impacting cell viability. Simply culture your cardiac cells or place an organoid on a MEA plate, and use IntraCell to obtain immediate, high-quality results.

The ability to simultaneously obtain APs from multiple electrodes over prolonged periods helps gather reliable information about the electrical behavior of your cardiac cultures, reducing batch-to-batch variability and increasing reliability. You will be able to assess the cardiotoxic effects of proarrhythmic drugs as well as evaluate the maturation status of physiological and pathological cardiac models with ease.

IntraCell is the first tool capable of measuring APs from 3D cardiac organoids and spheroids without requiring their disassembly. A multiparametric analysis will allow you to obtain unique results from 3D complex structures. Use the capabilities of IntraCell to measure high-quality APs from the surface of cardiac organoids, and exploit the integrated camera for optical mapping to assess their contraction and evaluate their electromechanical coupling. 

References

Long-term in vitro recording of cardiac action potentials on microelectrode arrays for chronic cardiotoxicity assessments. Iachetta, G., Melle, G., Colistra N., Tantussi F., De Angelis F., Dipalo M. Archives of Toxicology, Volume 97, 2023

Laser-Induced Action Potential-Like Measurements of Cardiomyocytes on Microelectrode Arrays for Increased Predictivity of Safety Pharmacology. Schaefer, J., Danker, T., Gebhardt, K., Kraushaar, U. (Indipendent Publication) Jove Journal, Volume 187, 2022

Improving reliability and reducing costs of cardiotoxicity assessments using laser-induced cell poration on microelectrode arrays. Iachetta G., Colistra N., Melle G., Deleye L., Tantussi F., De Angelis F., Dipalo M. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, Volume 418, 2021

Plasmonic meta-electrodes allow intracellular recordings at network level on high-density CMOS-multi-electrode arrays. Dipalo, M., Melle, G., Lovato, L., Jacassi A., Caprettini V., Garoli D., Bruno G., Tantussi F., De Angelis F.  Nature Nanotechnology, Volume 13, 2018

Intracellular Recording of Human Cardiac Action Potentials on Market-Available Multielectrode Array Platforms. Melle G., Bruno G., Maccaferri N., Iachetta G., Colistra N., Barbaglia A., Dipalo M., De Angelis F., Frontiers in Bioengineering Biotechnology, 2020

Intracellular action potential recordings from cardiomyocytes by ultrafast pulsed laser irradiation of fuzzy graphene microelectrodes. Dipalo M., Rastogi S.K., Matino L., Garg R., Bliley J., Iachetta G., Melle G., Shrestha R., Shen S., Santoro F., Feinberg A.W., Barbaglia A., Cohen-Karni T., De Angelis F., Science Advances, Volume 7, 2021