Glucose, one of the most vital biomolecules, is a simple six-carbon sugar that is utilized as the primary sugar source of mammalian cells, bacteria, and yeast. With this, it is often the limiting factor in cell culture, making glucose monitoring a crucial step during the process. Optimal glucose concentrations are critical for the cells’ growth and for the process’ product yield.
It is important to observe the patterns in the variation of glucose levels that occur in response tothe cell’s consumptionn, since monitoring this type of metabolic condition is an especially important factor in bioprocesses such as fermentation or mammalian cell culture where the products are not the cells themselves but the proteins they secrete. In cell culture, having excess amounts of glucose can decrease the rate of cells’ proliferation and can increase the rate of cell apoptosis. Meanwhile, inadequate levels of glucose in the media may lead cells to starve and can overall affect their propagation.
GlucCell®, a glucose meter specifically designed for monitoring glucose in cell culture, provides immediate information on the condition of the cells. It would be easier to eliminate undesirable fluctuations in glucose levels because results are shown real-time and is generated within 15 seconds. This monitoring system has also been calibrated with glucose standards in medium and buffer solution giving results as accurate as possible, with less than 3.5% error.
GlucCell® is a complete package with a portable meter and disposable test strips suitable for glucose measurement of both serum and serum-free culture media. It can be used for both mammalian and insect cell culture. The meter weighs only 70g and fits perfectly in a side pocket. GlucCell®’s small and compact size allows measurements to be done right next to the culturing device (i.e. bioreactors, fermenters). It is also small enough to work comfortably under a biosafety cabinet.
The portable design and interface of the GlucCell® meter are very intuitive, making it easy to use with minimal to no learning curve. The meter can store up to 180 test results with corresponding time and date, making the recording of important data convenient and effective.
The specially designed glucose test strip requires only 1.5 μl of sample volume of culture media in order to accurately analyze the glucose concentration.
Unlike the desktop biochemical analyzers that requires a few minutes to produce a numerical, actionable result, the GlucCell® meter boast of being able to measure and display the result within just 15 seconds, ensuring minimal process and decision making delay for end users.
Its size and portability allows end user to easily move it under a biosafety cabinet where the testing process can be done. The specially designed glucose test strip are also single use, ensuring that there would be no issues of cross-contamination. The GlucCell® gives end users much more flexibility on where and how to do their task.
GlucCell® Glucose Monitoring System is capable of achieving results greater than 90% accuracy, 95% precision, and 0.9997 linearity. Moreover, the result is 99.5% correlated with other expensive biochemical analyzers.
Figure 1. Comparison of glucose concentration measurement by various blood glucose meters
Figure 1 demonstrates the accuracy of GlucCell as a monitoring system of glucose in cell cultures. Compared to other commercially available blood glucose meters, it was highly evident that only the GlucCell® can be adopted for the glucose measurement in cell cultures, despite the other blood glucose meters having the same design based on the same principle and methodology. The results were particularly influenced by the fact that GlucCell® was specifically calibrated and designed for cell culture application as compared to others which were calibrated for different procedures such as blood monitoring, giving huge room for error. Since blood contains a wide array of molecules, of which some interfere with the glucose enzyme coupled with redox reactions, blood glucose self-monitoring devices need to be calibrated and formulated with those factors under consideration.
| Test Sample | Mammalian cell culture medium or buffer solution |
| Test Result | Glucose concentration in mg/dL or mmol/L |
| Sample Size | 1.5 μL |
| Measuring Time | Less than 15 seconds |
| Measuring Range |
20 – 600 mg/dL (1.1 – 33.3 mmol/L). Alarm HI when over 600 mg/dL, LO when over 20 mg/dL |
| Operating Temp. Range | 10°C~40°C(50° F~104° F) |
| Operating Relative Humidity | 20%~80% RH |
| Memory Capacity | Store up to 180 test results with date and time |
| Power Supply | One 3-volt Lithium Battery |
| Battery Life | Approximately 1000 tests |
| Automatic shut-off | In 3 minutes |
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