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CytoVu® Background
Conventional Membrane SiMPore CytoVu® 
Thin
Porous
Novel
CytoVu® imaging slides provide a permeable platform for cell culture on both apical and basal cell culture compartments. At just 0.1 µm thin, the membrane in the CytoVu® slide is 100x thinner than conventional membranes and provides superior live cell imaging, enabling confocal slicing of cells on both surfaces and at all visible wavelengths. NanoBarrier™ technology has an extensive network of 50 nm pores that allow superior diffusion of molecules between co-cultured cells while maintaining physical separation. SiMPore also offers 3 and 8 micrometer pores without a NanoBarrier™ to enable invasion and migration assays or co-culture with physical contact. SiMPore also offers a degradable version of the NanoBarrier™ membrane for tissue engineering experiments. The membrane provides an initial permeable barrier to allow cells to grow to confluence, then degrades to bring the cells into true physical contact. -
Features and Benefits
Optical Transparency:
allows high quality visualization in brightfield and fluorescence applications Standard Format:
adapts to both inverted and upright microscopes with no new equipment High Permeability Rates:
enables cross-communication and low dose studies Molecular Thinness:
creates physiological co-culture environments with physical separation High Permeability Rates:
enables cross-communication and low dose studies Selectively Degradable:
enables novel tissue engineering platforms and direct contact between
co-cultured cells after they reach confluenceScaled-down Feature Size:
reduces use of reagents or expensive drugs Medical-grade Silicone Wells:
FDA-compliant materials will not leech or outgas Stackable Ridges on the Outside:
saves incubator space Possible Applications
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Case Study in BBB Co-culture
Front View Side View Conventional Insert 
Conventional Insert
Cells were co-cultured on the top and bottom of a conventional insert's membrane by disassembling the insert and painstackingly seeding cells. This setup results in the most physiologically relevant orientation possible on conventional inserts. A z-stack of the fluorescent cells was taken to create a 3D image. Note the black space in between the co-cultured cells. This is the space taken up by a semi-permeable 10 um thick conventional insert.CytoVu® Imaging Slide 
CytoVu® Imaging Slide
Cells were co-cultured on the top and bottom of a CytoVu® membrane simply by pipetting cells into the apical and basal wells. This allows cells to be in perfect physiological communication, just 0.1 um away from eachother. A z-stack of the fluorescent cells was taken to create a 3D image. Note the lack of visible black space between the co-cultured cells that represents the CytoVu® membrane. The gap is not visible because the membrane is only 0.1 um thick.
Physiological Co-culture
Collaborators at the University of Rochester co-cultured endothelial and glial cells to form a model blood brain barrier (BBB) on a CytoVu® membrane and a conventional insert's membrane.
Since the CytoVu® co-cultured cells were only separated by a 0.1 um porous membrane, the CytoVu® BBB established a more physiologically relevant transendothelial electrical resistance significantly faster than the cells co-cultured on a conventional insert. The small distance allows both autocrine and paracrine signals to efficiently cross the CytoVu® membrane allowing the co-cultured cells to establish a more physiological microenvironment and react more as they would in vivo.
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NanoBarrier™ Technology
NanoBarrier™ Technology
The NanoBarrier™ is available as an extra option on the CytoVu® 3 Micro and CytoVu® 8 Micro product lines. The NanoBarrier™ is a negligibly thin, highly permeable, and optically transparent membrane. An extensive network of 50 nm pores maintain maintains the high level of permeability that is characteristic of all CytoVu® products. When NanoBarrier™ Technology is added to CytoVu®, it restricts the cells to their respective compartments (apical or basal), but still allows all secreted signals or conditioned media to flow through. Since it is so thin, all communications flow through, even paracrine signals.
Imaging Qualities - Preserved
The NanoBarrier™ is molecularly thin and shares optical qualities similar to glass. Therefore, it is indistinguishable from a standard CytoVu® membrane under light, fluorescent and confocal microscopes. We have provided images under TEM in order to visualize the NanoBarrier™. Only under TEM can you see the 50 nm pores (clear) and small crystals (black) that populate the NanoBarrier™.
Degradable NanoBarrier™ Technology
SiMPore also features a degradable NanoBarrier™ that allows your cells in confluence to come into complete contact over a support scaffold. When the barrier degrades, it becomes a very low concentration of Silicic acid, which has been found to have no harmful effects on cultured cells (PMID: 20398927).
CytoVu® pore with NanoBarrier™
under TEMCytoVu® pore without NanoBarrier™
under TEM
CytoVu® pores with NanoBarrier™
under optical microscope (100x)
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Future Directions
As a company of scientists and engineers, SiMPore prides itself on a highly active research and development program. These are a few of the projects that we are currently undertaking.
High Throughput and Microarray Formats
We are currently researching a tunable, high-throughput microarray format that would allow us to create a small CytoVu® device with as many as 384 wells. This would allow researchers to use automated machinery to study the phenotypic changes of single cells in response to molecular or environmental perturbations.
Early Stage Drug Discovery
SiMPore is developing a simple and effective screen for early stage drug discovery. An assay was developed that detects drug binding through dissociation of a protein complex through a SiMPore membrane. This technology is currently being expanded to allow researchers to choose a standard SiMPore membrane that is specific to their protein complex.
SiMPore's CytoVu® platform has also been popular as a more physiological platform for in vitro toxicology and drug screening. Co-culturing cells creates a more physiological microenvironment, and small volumes reduces the strain on precious drugs.
Additional Pore Sizes
We are eager to produce additional pore sizes and are researching methods to create precise pores in novel nanometer and micrometer scales.
Academic Collaborations and Corporate Partnerships
We believe that our technology is exciting and has significant opportunities to enhance scientific experimentation. As a result, we are eager to expand its use in new applications and technologies via academic collaborations and corporate partnerships. Please feel free to contact us at info@SiMPore.com to begin the discussion.
96 Well Format 
Drug Binding Assay 
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Technical and Informational Materials
User Manuals
Brochures
Frequently Asked Questions
CytoVu® Introduction
Co-culture
Barrier
Migration
Technical FAQs
General FAQs
Features FAQs
For additional information, please feel free to contact us
