Improvements in live cell analysis of G protein coupled receptors using second generation BD calcium assay kits.

BD Calcium Assay Kits are designed for cell-based calcium mobilization high-throughput screening assays. The kits use a proprietary formulation including a non-fluorescent calcium indicator that becomes activated inside the cell and shows increased fluorescence upon calcium binding. The formulation includes a signal-enhancing reagent to maximize the signal over background in a homogeneous, no-wash assay format, based on a technology developed at BD. We have compared the next generation BD calcium assay kit product family to previous versions of the formulation, and to other commercially available homogeneous calcium assay kits. The improvements have enabled better performance on the cell lines and receptors that we have tested in all plate formats including 1536.