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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November
8, 2004.
The
new Cell Cycle assay from Guava Technologies, Inc. makes cell cycle
analysis easier than ever before for applications in Immunology,
Cancer Drug Discovery and Cell Health Profiling.
Fast
and easy examination of cell division phases ..
The
new Cell Cycle assay from Guava Technologies, Inc. makes cell cycle
analysis easier than ever before for applications in Immunology,
Cancer Drug Discovery and Cell Health Profiling.

Staining
reagents are pre-combined in a single optimised format, eliminating
the need for complex reagent preparation following cell fixation.
Moreover, the Guava Cell Cycle assay provides detailed protocols
for use with either individual tubes or 96-well microtitre plates,
thus minimising assay development time. The Guava Cell Cycle assay's
automated analysis capability displays results in both histogram
and statistical formats, making it a convenient method of screening
and optimising lead drug candidates for their ability to induce
cell cycle arrest and to kill proliferating cells. Together with
Guava's leading Personal Cell Analysis system (PCA™) and CellHealth™
Profiling assays, the new Cell Cycle assay provides faster, easier
cell analysis capabilities, right at the researcher's benchtop.
The
Guava Cell Cycle assay uses the nuclear DNA stain, propidium iodide
(PI), to directly discriminate cells at different stages of the
cell cycle. Incubation can be as short as only one hour. Three histogram
markers distinguish the G0/G1, S and G2/M cell cycle phases, while
an optional fourth marker offers a way to identify apoptotic cells,
cell aggregates or an internal standard. Absolute cell counts are
provided automatically.
Understanding
the cell cycle and how different compounds affect it is an important
area of study for immunologists and cancer researchers, and in drug
discovery and bioprocess development. Cells in different stages
of cell cycle express different genes and proteins. Hence in addition
to determining viability and apoptotic cell fractions, every experiment
involving cell populations should be normalised for cell cycle.
Accuracy
and high user-to-user reproducibility of absolute cell counts are
obtained directly as a standard feature without the need for reference
beads. Convenient absolute counts can enable researchers to determine
whether changes in cell cycle and other functional parameters and
biomarker expression are a result of drug treatments or are caused
by changes in cell number due to cell proliferation or cell death.
Reference beads or separate counting devices are not needed for
cell enumeration on the Guava.
"The
ability to directly enumerate cells in suspension as well as to
determine percentages of cells in the various phases of the cell
cycle is a unique feature of Guava based assays," said Dianne
Fishwild, Ph.D., director of Application Development at Guava Technologies,
Inc. "This latest assay expands our offering of sensitive single
cell microcapillary cytometry assays for use with the Guava PCA
Systems at the researcher's bench top. Use of our system can eliminate
much of the guess work involved in working with cell populations.
It is fast, easy to use, and minimizes the amount of costly cells
and reagents. The benefit is to lessen the time between experimental
design and result, resulting in faster decisions and greater productivity."
A
new application note describing the Guava Cell Cycle assay and its
use in screening cytoactive compounds to determine cell cycle arrest
is now available from the Guava Technologies website at www.guavatechnologies.com,
in the Online Library. More information about the company and its
products is available at www.guavatechnologies.com.
Guava
and Guava Technologies, Inc. are registered trademarks and PCA and
EasyCyte are trademarks of Guava Technologies, Inc.
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