CyToxiLux^® and GranToxiLux™

OncoImmunin, Inc.'s
single cell-based Fluorogenic Cytotoxicity Assay Kits

The advantages of these assays are:

1. Cytotoxicity is measured as functions of fundamental biochemical pathways leading to cell death: in the CyToxiLux^® kit, cleavage of a cell permeable fluorogenic caspase substrate, and in the GranToxiLux™ kit, cleavage of a cell permeable substrate for Granzyme B activity in target cells (the Granzyme B is directly from activated effector cells).
   
   
2. With CyToxiLux^® and GranToxiLux™ one can measure cell death exclusively in target cell populations by flow cytometry or fluorescence microscopy. These single cell measurements are in contrast to the classic ⁵¹Cr release assay in which bulk quantitation is of an end stage of cell mediated cytotoxicity, i.e., cell lysis.
   
   
3. CyToxiLux^® and GranToxiLux™ are more rapid  than the ⁵¹Cr release assay:  coincubation of 0.3-2 hr vs. 4 hr.
   
   
4. In several systems tested, both CyToxiLux^® and GranToxiLux™ are more sensitive than the ⁵¹Cr release assay as the former two can detect relatively weak CTL responses against subdominant epitopes whereas the latter cannot.
   
   
5. When combined with immunophenotypic analyses and multiparameter flow cytometry, CTL and NK-mediated killing of primary host target cells as well as the physiology and fate of effector cells can be directly visualized and monitored with both CyToxiLux^® and GranToxiLux™.