Netherlands – Biomedical equipment – Micro-electrode array

The Drukker-Schröter group in the division of Cell Systems and Drug Safety at the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research intends to purchase a multi-electrode array system for the assessment of electrical activity in specialized cell types differentiated from embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells. Research in our group is focused on the development of multicellular microphysiological models for target identification, drug discovery and safety testing. We develop these systems through the differentiation of embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells towards specialized cell types such as cardiomyocytes, neurons, and glia. An important aspect in our work is the molecular and functional characterisation of the cells that we differentiate. In the context of electrically active cell types, measurements of action potentials form an important aspect of this functional characterization. Multi-electrode arrays (MEAs) represent an accessible and scalable method to perform such functional characterisations, since they allow recording of electrical activity from several cells in a culture simultaneously, without laborious single cell-based interventions characteristic of more traditional electrophysiological assessment. This feature makes MEAs particularly suitable in the context of drug discovery and safety testing, where multiple conditions and cells need to be tested in parallel. This publication is to indicate our intention to award the contract to Maxwell Biosystems AG. If no representations are received within 20 days, we intend to award the contract.