In the body, cellular barriers line many surfaces to protect the tissue within and control the passage of material in and out. These barriers are primarily composed of endothelial and epithelial cells. Biological events such as inflammation, infection, cancer metastases, leukocyte migration, and many “normal” cues (e.g., GPCR) can alter the permeability of the barrier.
Axion BioSystems' Maestro Z platform offers real-time monitoring of TEER and barrier function in your cells. Continuous data reveals the full time course of barrier disruption for a more complete picture without the time- and cost-intensive process of repeating multiple endpoint assays.
Measuring in vitro barrier models
TEER is an important metric to evaluate the integrity of cellular barriers. Handheld “chopstick-electrode” TEER devices can be highly dependent on electrode positioning and manual handling can disturb the cell layer. Integrated interdigitated electrodes on the Maestro Z overcome these challenges.
Advantages of integrated electrodes
- Hands-free
- Reproducible
- High-throughput
Barrier Function Assays
-
TEER Overview>
-
Track barrier integrity in real time>
-
Normalize TEER to cell coverage>
-
Evaluate barrier function in disease-in-a-dish model>
-
Dynamic measurement of microbiome on gut tissue>
Transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) is commonly used to measure barrier integrity.
The Maestro Z platform can measure TEER and expand on it with barrier index. By simultaneously measuring at different frequencies, the Maestro Z platform calculates barrier index normalizing TEER values for confluence. This provides a sensitive and less variable method to measure small, transient disruptions in barrier function.
“The Teer assay is a game-changer in cell barrier research.”
The Teer assay is a vital tool for unraveling the mysteries of cellular barriers and advancing our understanding of health and disease in the easiest way possible. We utilize the Maestro Edge system with the Impedance Module to measure TEER in colonic epithelial cells cultured with various bacteria in vitro. Recently, we demonstrated that B. adolescentis bacteria impair epithelial barrier integrity in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
- Hadar Bootz-Maoz. Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
