Superior, Sustainable, Cruelty-free Cell Culture Membrane for TEER

The accuracy of your TEER assay measurement depends on several things, but membrane quality is undeniably one of the essential factors to consider. Now, there’s a sustainable and cruelty-free cell culture membrane that can be used.

Introduction

Tissue barriers are of fundamental importance and play a primary role in homeostasis. They are protective and serve functions such as filtration, secretion, absorption and excretion. Tissue barriers are widespread throughout the body and are composed by epithelial and endothelial layers. The epithelial layer covers organs and cavities, separating them from their surroundings. The endothelial layer comprises the inner vasculature lining and acts as barrier between blood and tissues. Both the epithelial and endothelial layers contain tight and adherent junctions. Tight junctions modulate the flow of ions, solutes, and cells through the intercellular space; whereas adherent junctions control the interplay between cells 1, 2.

In vitro cellular models to study epithelial and endothelial layers are pivotal to elucidate mechanisms of barrier function, drug transport and to understand diseases where barrier tissues are compromised or affected by infections, injuries or drugs. One of the key in vitro techniques to evaluate barrier function is the Transepithelial-Transendothelial Electrical Resistance (TEER assay).

What is TEER and How Is It Performed? 

TEER is the measurement of electrical resistance across a cellular monolayer. It is a highly sensitive and reliable method to confirm the permeability and integrity of the monolayer. The use of cell inserts is a gold standard to perform TEER assays. Cell inserts contain porous supports and are specially designed to allow the separation into two compartments, simulating the physiological condition where the cell monolayer acts as a diffusion barrier between the apical and basolateral sides.

Cells are cultured on inserts containing membranes that are semipermeable to ions and cell culture media. Once the cellular monolayer has been established, a pair of electrodes are inserted in both the lower and upper compartments, an A.C. voltage signal is then applied and the resulting resistance is recorded using a Voltmeter 3, 4.

Applications of TEER include:

Evaluation of cell monolayer of tissue barriers models:

  • Gastrointestinal tract
  • Blood-brain barrier
  • Airways
  • Skin

Study of cell monolayer integrity of disease models where tissue barriers are compromised:

  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Inflammatory bowel disease
  • Viral infections
  • Cancer

Pharmacological research:

  • Study of the transport of drugs across barrier tissues
  • Assessment of integrity of tissue barriers before, during and after drug absorption
  • Evaluation of drug toxicity

Considerations

The accuracy of your TEER assay measurement depends on several things, but membrane quality is undeniably one of the essential factors to consider. 

cellQART® provides superior inserts for cell culture well plates. Some of the benefits of using cellQART are:

  • Not tested on animals
  • Ready-to-use, sterilized, and with less packaging versions available
  • Convenient pipette access
  • Optimized gas access
  • Compatible with most cell culture plates

Ready to invest in sustainable and cruelty-free research cell culture membrane? Talk to an expert today.

References

  1. Anderson, J. M. & Van Itallie, C. M. Physiology and function of the tight junction. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 1, a002584 (2009)
  2. García-Ponce, A., Chánez Paredes, S., Castro Ochoa, K. F. & Schnoor, M. Regulation of endothelial and epithelial barrier functions by peptide hormones of the adrenomedullin family. Tissue Barriers 4, e1228439 (2016).
  3. Srinivasan, B. et al. TEER measurement techniques for in vitro barrier model systems. J Lab Autom 20, 107–126 (2015)
  4. Elbrecht, D. H. & Hickman, C. J. L. and J. J. Transepithelial/endothelial Electrical Resistance (TEER) theory and applications for microfluidic body-on-a-chip devices. Journal of Rare Diseases Research & Treatment 1, (2016).