Serum Free Media Development

Factor Selection and Screening
The Discovery Platform is supported by state-of-the-art bioinformatics, laboratory automation and analytical tools. BD FACS™ CAP is recommended as the first step in the Discovery Platform process.  The results provide an inventory of receptors expressed on the surface of the cell that can be used to identify extracellular factors that can influence cell growth and differentiation. A cornerstone of  the Discovery Platform bioinformatics capabilities is BD’s Human Receptome Database, a curated database containing thousands of ligand-receptor pairs. Using BD’s scientific expertise and proprietary bioinformatic tools, the database generates a list of biological components that will most likely influence the desired cellular end-state.  This process is referred to as Rational Factor Selection.

Candidate factors generated through Rational Factor Selection are reviewed prior to screening by BD's scientific staff. BD scientists utilize proprietary plate management software and proprietary design of experiment software to generate optimal combinations of factors to be screened in a multi-well plate format.  Screening factors on the Discovery Platform is an iterative process, and may require multiple rounds of screening to identify the optimized cell culture environment formulation. 

Screening Assays
Cell-based assays are used at each stage of the screening process to identify and  refine the optimal components necessary for the culture environment.  The BD team utilizes assays transferred from the project sponsor or developed in-house to determine the progress of a project such as expansion or differentiation down a specific lineage. Cell-based assays employed during the combinatorial screening of candidate factors include monitoring cell health, phenotype, morphology and protein expression and secretion.  Assay modalities include flow cytometry, imaging, ELISA, molecular analysis and biochemical assays.

Results and Data Analysis
Screening results are analyzed using sophisticated statistical software tools.  Proprietary data mining capabilities enable comparison of results across multiple experiments with multiple cell sources to determine the best combination of culture components to meet the customer’s performance criteria.

Deliverables
The result of this process is a custom cell culture environment formulation (medium and surface) that meets the customer’s performance criteria.  Once an optimal cell culture environment has been developed, BD can manufacture the custom media formulation and culture-ware for the specific application needs.

For more information about the Discovery Platform, or to consult with the Discovery Platform team about a project please contact us at DiscoveryPlatform@bd.com or by phone at 919.597.6213.

Plate map of factor combinations
generated with BD's proprietary
plate management software tool.

State of the art automation, proprietary statistical software and flexible assay modalities provide unparalleled combinatorial
screening capabilities.

Results of differentiation. Adipocytes stained to indicate development of fat droplets. Cells were differentiated from mesenchymal stem cells.

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