Automation
Millicell-24 and Millicell-96 cell culture insert plates are ideal for use in high throughput cell culture labs. These streamlined plate designs enhance compatibility with robotic seed-and-feed systems, as well as most liquid handlers. In addition, the ANSI compliant plates feature rigid sidewalls that are compatible with gripper arms and standard deck locations.

Millicell cell culture insert plates are specifically designed to promote assay reliability and consistency. The automation compatibility of the Millicell family ensures equivalent results to manual protocols and increases assay throughput.

Automation Compatible Plates Enable High Throughput Screening of Drugs

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Cloe Screen Caco-2 can identify and quantify levels of passive and active efflux by performing the assay in both the apical to basolateral (A-B) and basolateral to apical directions (B-A). Here we show that the Cloe Screen Caco-2 B-A/A-B ratio result, an indicator of active efflux known as the “asymmetry ratio” is consistent with published data — demonstrating that Cloe Screen Caco-2 can be relied upon to identify compounds that are subject to efflux.

Designs Ensure Quality Results with Automation

Manual vs. Automated Results in Millicell-24 Cell Culture Insert Plates
Permeability Rate (AP BL)
Efflux Ratio
Manitol Testosterone Digioxin Manitol Digoxin
3 Day Cell Growth (MDCK)
Automated 0.2 ± 0.0 15.9 ± 2.3< 0.1 ± 0.0 1.3 87.1
7 Day Cell Growth (MDCK)
Automated 0.3 ± 0.0 22.5 ± 0.5 0.2 ± 0.0 0.9 99.2
Manual 0.2 ± 0.0 22.7 ± 3.2 0.2 ± 0.1 1.4 67.0
21 Day Cell Growth (Caco-2)
Automated 1.0 ± 0.1 21.9 ± 2.0 0.8 ± 0.3 1.3 20.7
Manual 2.1 ± 0.5 21.7 ± 0.4 1.2 ± 0.4 0.8 14.8


n = 6 wells per drug per cell line

Manual vs. Automated Results in Millicell-96 Cell Culture Insert Plates
Permeability Rate (AP BL)
Efflux Ratio

Manitol Testosterone Digioxin Manitol Digoxin
21 Day Cell Growth (Caco-2)
Automated 0.5 ± 0.1 16.0 ± 1.8 0.9 ± 0.0 1.0 22.0
Manual NA 6.6 ± 0.6 0.5 ± 0.1 NA 30.5


n = 6 wells per drug

The permeability (Papp) rates (1 x 106) for selected drugs were determined using radiometric methods and two cell lines (MDCK and Caco-2). The 24-well (Table 1) and 96-well (Table 2) plates were run both manually and with automation. The automated 24-well plates were processed using the Tecan Freedom EVO workstation, while the 96-well plates used the TecanR Genesis. workstation. TEER measurements prior to processing indicated good cell growth and integral monolayer, while post processing lucifer yellow results (average . 98% rejection) indicated the monolayer was not disturbed during processing. The resulting drug permeability rates were similar for automation and manual techniques (both 24-well and 96-well plates).

Millipore provides extensive technical support for automated cell culture assays.
The following protocols are available for robotic assays with 24- and 96-well cell culture inserts:

96-well Protocol
  • Drug Transport Assays using Millicell-96 Cell Culture Plate on the Beckman Biomek FX - TN1656EN00
  • Drug Transport Assays using Millicell-96 Cell Culture Plate on the MultiPROBER II-HT Workstation - TN1005EN00
  • Drug Transport Assays using Millicell-96 Cell Culture Plate on the Tecan Genesis 150 Workstation - TN1156EN00