Simplifying Cell Visualization in Complex Model Systems

In neurodegenerative disease research and drug discovery, scientists are increasingly working with complex co-cultures and diverse cell types to model the brain and its cellular mechanisms. This requires the ability to accurately track cells, observing their function, movement and interactions in vitro and in vivo.

At the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) 2025 meeting, bit.bio announced the first launch from its ioTracker Cells^TM range: GFP ioMicroglia^TM.

Technology Networks joined Dr. Farah Patell-Socha, vice president of products at bit.bio, and Dr. Timothy Smith, associate director of sales at bit.bio, for a conversation to discuss the launch and applications of GFP ioMicroglia.

A new window into the cellular environment

ioTracker Cells are the newest addition to bit.bio’s ioCells portfolio, which features 46 other products such as the ioWild Type Cells^TM, ioDisease Model Cells^TM and CRISPR-Ready ioCells^TM.

GFP ioMicroglia is built from the company’s well-established ioMicroglia. With constitutive GFP expression, it negates the need for researchers to engineer GFP-expressing induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines and further differentiate them into iPSC-derived cell types, saving valuable time.

Discussing the unmet need served by ioTracker Cells, Patell-Socha told Technology Networks, “The development of this product range was driven by the critical need to accurately visualize cells in complex biological environments, whether in an in vitro system or a live animal model.”

“The first launch from this range, GFP ioMicroglia, is a particularly exciting product for in vivo studies where, for example, researchers might want to transplant human stem-cell-derived microglia into a rodent brain and track their movement and function. Without GFP or another fluorescent marker, this would be nearly impossible to monitor,” she continued.

Such capabilities will be fundamental for progressing the development of novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders, Smith emphasized. “The pharmaceutical industry has been focused on oncology for a long time. While cancer research presents significant challenges, the readouts are relatively straightforward – you’re looking to eliminate cancer cells.”

“However, as we shift towards neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, the complexity increases dramatically. These conditions require more sophisticated biological models that incorporate multiple cell types within each well.”

The GFP ioMicroglia product enables researchers to visually distinguish and separate neurons from microglia – or microglia from any other cell type – so that the role of each component can be accurately determined. “It allows for clear, non-invasive analysis of what’s happening in each cell type, providing more precise insights into their individual functions in real-time,” Smith added.

Making complex co-culture studies more efficient

Beyond visualization, another advantage to this product range is that researchers can sort cells using flow cytometry, without the need for antibodies.

“Take, for example, a study where researchers want to look at four different cell types in the context of a neurological disease. Typically, antibodies are used to label the cells in order to separate them using flow cytometry techniques. Now, ioTracker Cells with built-in fluorescence expression can be sorted quickly and easily from complex multi-cell cultures. This greatly streamlines assay workflows and improves experiment reliability,” Patell-Socha explained.

This approach also preserves the viability of the cells in comparison to traditional imaging methods where cells are fixed before staining. Constitutive fluorescence expression in GFP ioMicroglia is crucial for live-cell imaging applications, enabling cell motility assessment and the visualization of microglial activation states.

“And GFP ioMicroglia is just the first product,” Patell-Socha said excitedly. “We’ll be launching other cell types, such as glutamatergic neurons and astrocytes, each expressing a range of fluorescent proteins so that scientists can choose what best suits their assays of interest.”

Building a comprehensive toolkit

Discussing how GFP ioMicroglia and ioTracker Cells fit neatly into bit.bio’s broader product portfolio, Patell-Socha explained how the company approaches innovations from a “toolkit” perspective.

“I imagine I’m a scientist and I’m studying Alzheimer’s disease,” she said. “I have my genes of interest, and I need the flexibility to overexpress or knock out specific genes, repress certain pathways and model complex disease systems. I also need to incorporate specific mutations to study disease mechanisms effectively. These studies typically require different tools/reagents”

“bit.bio’s goal is to build a comprehensive toolkit that provides researchers with everything they need. We’ve developed disease models, wild-type cells, CRISPR-Ready cells for functional genomics, and now, the tracker system. With this toolkit, researchers finally have the freedom to choose the best tools for their experiment rather than being limited to a single approach. The days of studying one small aspect at a time are over – now we can take a more top-down, holistic approach to disease research.”

Patell-Socha envisions 2025 will be an exciting and busy year for the company, which has 18 more product launches in the pipeline.