"Jennifer, when we initially discussed the position, we set up a screening process geared to find an individual with strong scientific skills, an assay developer par excellence who could bring technical expertise to the team.
Without mechanisms for QC/QA, tens of thousands of dollars can be spent to collect specimens of limited utility to scientific research and assay validation.
Importantly, however, health-protective application of these methods ultimately depends on the scientific integrity of the assays, the scientifically sound interpretation of the data emerging from them, and the transparency of the entire process.
The authors point out that making better decisions depends in large part on the scientific integrity of the assays used in ToxCast (and other high-throughput in vitro initiatives) and the scientifically sound interpretation of the data those assays produce.
The combined advantages should provide reliable monitoring of Ca2+ signaling and suggest that Case12 and Case16 will become very popular research tools both in scientific studies and HTS assays and might be able to replace some of the currently used chemical Ca2+ probes.
Glucose was analyzed using the HK-based assay that couples G6P with GPDH that is a NADH-linked assay (Pointe Scientific, Canton, MI).
Total protein content was determined using the BCA colorimetric assay (ThermoFisher Scientific, USA) and empty PLGA particles were processed in a similar manner and used as a blank.
After 60 minutes at 37°C, 5% CO2, aliquots of surnatant were taken for the measurement of insulin secretion (Rat/Mouse Insulin ELISA Kit, Billerica, MA, U.S.A ., while total protein content was determined using BCA protein Assay (Thermo scientific, Rockford, USA).
