MatriPlate^TM 1536 Black and MatriPlate^TM 384 Black

 

The black MatriPlate was designed specifically for fluorescent applications (fluorescent intensity, fluorescent polarization, time resolved fluorescence, homogeneous time resolved fluorescence) using the Tundra^TM, LeadSeeker^TM, LJL Acquest^TM or other imaging systems. They can, however, be successfully used for other applications (luminescence, etc) as well.

The proprietary material from which the plate is constructed along with its unique shape increases the detectable signal from each well on the order of 2-4 fold over conventionally designed plates. The signal/noise ratio of the MatriPlate 1536 when compared to Greiner 1536 black, Nunc 1536 black, or Corning Costar 1536 black is on the order of 2-4 fold higher (Table 1). The MatriPlate 1536 has a working volume of from 1-6 microliters while the MatriPlate 384 has a working volume of from 2-50 microliters. Many groups are not yet comfortable working in the 1536-well format so the low volume MatriPlate 384-well plate gives you an excellent alternative. With the MatriPlate 384, you can initially test your assay in a 40 microliter volume, then miniaturize to the extent that makes sense for your application. The aspect ratio in these plates is such that the surface area to volume and the plastic area to volume are constant between 2 to 40 microliters. That means that if your assay works at 40 microliters, all you will usually need to do to miniaturize the assay is to reduce the volumes proportionately.

Table 1. Comparison of S/N Ratios for Black MatriPlate Assay Plates and Competitive Plates.

	Cy5	Cy3	Resorufin	Fluorescein	Coumarin
MatriPlate	62	61	53	18	299
Greiner	36	63	22	10	130
Nunc	5	11	55	7	115

Signal to Noise ratios were measured for various fluorescent molecules covering an excitation band from 360 nm to 650nm and an emission band from 420nm to 695nm. Signal to Noise ratio is defined as: ((mean signal - mean background)/ standard deviation of the background) and is a direct measure of the quality of the signal that can be obtained from these plates.

 

The MatriPlate 1536 is also the only 1536-well plate currently available that meets the Society for Biomolecular Screening Standard. This is particularly valuable when your lab needs to switch between 96-well, 384-well, and 1536-well formats. Other 1536-well plates are not made to the SBS standard and thus, are difficult, if not impossible to use with the vast majority of plate stackers that are currently on the market.

Since the MatriPlate 1536 is built to the same standard as the 96-well and 384-well formats, there is no need to change or modify your present stackers in order to handle this plate. As the data in Table 2 show clearly, the major difference in plate shape between the different manufacturers is the plate height, and this obviously affects stacker performance.

Table 2.

	Length	Width	Height	Well Depth	Volume	Stacker Compatible
SBS	127.76	85.47	14.35	N/A	N/A	YES(all)
MatriPlate	127.65	85.35	14.35	3.5	6.0	YES(all)
Greiner	127.3	85.31	10.4	5	10	???(some)
Nunc	127.59	85.30	7.27	5	10	NO*
Corning	127.69	85.32	4	2	2	NO

* Certain Stackers can be modified to accept these plates

 

Getting the Most from your Black MatriPlate:

1. The unique shape of the MatriPlate provides a more uniform surface for fluorescent excitation (see figure 1). However, in applications using either the Amersham Tundra, LeadSeeker, other CCD based system or the LJL Acquest, it is imperative that the optimal focal height be determined for each fluor used. Unlike the plates made by other manufacturers where the wells are narrow and deep, the well in the MatriPlate is broader and shallower with a unique multi-angle design that reflects more light back to the detectors. Consequently, if the optimal focal height is determined for each fluor that is used, the MatriPlate will yield 2-4 fold higher signal than any other plate on the market.

2. The MatriPlate (or earlier versions) has been used for a number of applications including bacterial and yeast cell growth, receptor binding reactions, proteases, kinases, mammalian cell growth, reporter gene assays, and others. However, not all reactions have been tested so we cannot guarantee that these plates will be suitable for all applications. In general, you will find that the concentration of protein that you will need to use in a miniaturized application, regardless of the plate manufacturer, is typically from 1-3 fold higher than in a 96-well plate. This is due simply to the increased plastic surface area to volume ratio that is observed in these miniaturized formats. Since this is an entirely new plastic material that has not been used for high throughput screening purposes (although it is used in medical equipment and certain biological implants) we would be very interested in hearing about successes or failures. Technical assistance is always available through email at sales@matrical.com or by telephone at 509-343-6230.

Figure 1A. MatriPlate 1536 Signal Intensity

 

Figure 1B. Greiner 1536 Signal Intensity

Figure 1: The unique well design of the MatriPlate 1536 allows for a more uniform excitation. Deep narrow wells such as those typically found in other types of 1536 well plates lead to excessive shadowing as shown above. As an example, both the MatriPlate 1536 and Greiner 1536 well plates were loaded with 3ul of 50nM Fluorescein in PBS and imaged (Figure 1A and 1B). As can be seen, due to the unique well shape of the MatriPlate 1536 the entire plate receives a much more uniform excitation (and thus emission) whereas the deep narrow wells of the Greiner 1536 well plate lead to excessive shadowing (as seen by the crescent emission from the square wells and the dark center of the plate).