Cell Viability Assay | WuXi Biology & Testing

Cell Viability Insights That Drive Discovery

Accurate assessment of cell viability is essential for evaluating compound safety, optimizing leads, and predicting organ-specific toxicities early in drug discovery. WuXi Biology and Testing delivers a robust portfolio of cell-based assays designed to measure cellular health, metabolic function, and membrane integrity across diverse primary cells and established cell lines.

By combining automated high-throughput platforms with physiological models, our expert teams provide reliable, actionable data to help you de-risk pipeline candidates and prevent costly late-stage attrition.

Cytotoxicity

We provide an extensive panel of cell viability tests to efficiently screen, profile, and select promising drug leads for further development. Cell viability can be evaluated by measuring cytoplasmic enzyme release (e.g., LDH), cellular ATP content, and mitochondrial metabolism (XTT). Our cells used for cytotoxicity screening include, but are not limited to, several primary cells (hepatocytes, astrocytes, neurons and endothelial cells) and human cell lines (Hep G2).

Mitochondrial Toxicity

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been reported to be a leading cause of drug withdrawal and Black Box warnings. Identifying mitochondrial dysfunction in the early stage of NCE characterization is now crucial to avoiding late-stage attrition during drug development. The limitation of traditional methods for assessing mitochondrial dysfunction has discouraged routine evaluation of mitochondrial function. At WuXi Biology and Testing, we overcome traditional testing limitations by leveraging fluorescent, oxygen-sensitive probes to measure oxygen consumption and mitochondrial membrane potential. For mitochondrial toxicity studies, we provide the following assays:

Fluorescence-based oxygen consumption assay
Membrane potential transition (MPT)
Glucose/Galactose Assay
MitoBiogenesis Assay
Mitochondrial Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Assays

Hepatotoxicity

Hepatotoxicity is a common cause of failure in new drug development. Primary hepatocytes are the preferred tool for obtaining key information about the tested compound. The culture conditions have been optimized to maintain high enzyme activity levels for the cell-based assay. We can evaluate several hepatotoxic endpoints in a short time frame by maximizing the use of hepatocytes. For each hepatotoxicity study, we provide the following assays, among others.

Hepatocyte Cell Viability

The cell viability of primary hepatocytes was assessed.

Steatosis & Phospholipidosis

Steatosis and Phospholipidosis are characterized by excessive intracellular lipid accumulation. It’s well known that a large number of cationic amphiphilic drugs have the potential to induce steatosis or phospholipidosis. We have established a rapid, robust, high-throughput screening method to detect compounds with steatosis – or phospholipidosis-inducing potential.

Enzyme Induction

The inducibility of some enzymes, e.g., CYP450s (CYP3A4 CYP1A1, CYP, CYP2B6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19 and CYP2E1), UGTs, and drug transporters (MDR1 and MRP2) is one of the major concerns for drug development in the pharmaceutical industry. It can lead to toxicity or reduced efficacy due to drug-drug interactions if the co-administration of another alters the metabolism of one drug. To investigate the CYP induction potential of a drug candidate, primary human hepatocytes (fresh or plateable cryopreserved) or fresh rat hepatocytes are exposed to the test compound over a three-day-period. At the same time, enzyme activity or gene expression levels are monitored.