ABSTRACT
Two criteria are important for the design of a miniaturized assay plate. The plate must provide a high-density array of identical reaction vessels to which reagents and cells can be readily added during assay construction. In addition, it must not contribute distortion to the fluorescence intensity signals being read. The high-density well array plate is constructed to be as nonreactive as possible and to provide an inert physical platform that physically stages the assay and the detection of the assay readout. Aurora has designed and manufactured specialty NanoWell assay plates that consist of a 48×72 well array that is scaled from the industry standard 96-well (8×12) format. The plate has the same footprint as 96-and 384-well plates, and is fitted with a custom-designed lid that prevents evaporation and contamination. Each reaction well in the NanoWell plate is capable of holding 2.5 µl of liquid. The scaled format of wells makes possible automated positioning to be effected by subdividing the ranges used in 96-well format motor placement systems.
