The HUREL Zoo Plates, aptly named for the variety of species the plate houses, are a unique way to leverage micro-liver technology. As opposed to a single species plate, the Zoo plate provides users with any array of different animal cell types (or human) on a single plate, providing a more rapid screening method.
The basis for the Zoo Plate sprouts from the HUREL offering, which provides the widest array of primary hepatocyte-based micro livers ranging 12 different models representing 10 mammalian species. With the range of offering, the creation of the Zoo Plate offers a combinatorial approach for a more convenient assay. Also, in line with our other HUREL offerings, the Zoo Plate has a hepatocyte density of 30,000 cells per well (in a 96-well format).
Step one
When building out a Zoo Plate is to select the species for the plate from the following:
- HUREL® Cat™
- HUREL® Dog™
- HUREL® Human™
- HUREL® Human Pool™
- HUREL® Minipig™
- HUREL® Mouse™
- HUREL® Primate™
- HUREL® Rabbit™
- HUREL® Rat SD™
- HUREL® Rat WH™
The Second (and Final) Step
Determine the format. Currently, the Zoo Plate is offered as a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 species plate option in 6-, 12-, 24-, 48-, 96-, or 384-well format. Our platform is easily scalable, and we are more than happy to start small and build more complex plates over time.
Shipping, maintenance, and storage of the Zoo Plate does not differ from our typical HUREL single species plate process. Additionally, the Zoo Plate is also compatibility with all standard in vitro assays such as cytotoxicity and hepatotoxicity screening, metabolite generation and ID, metabolic clearance and reaction phenotyping assay.
(Additional information about packing and unboxing can be found here.)
In the marketplace currently, there are similar models, however, they are limited by choice of 4 species as opposed to HUREL’s 10.
Since its acquisition in 2021, Visikol has been proud to offer the HUREL® Micro Livers as they provide best-in-class metabolic competency and consistency. If you have questions about how we develop our Zoo Plates and our cultures, we are happy to chat!