Seahorse Bioscience XFp Cell Energy Phenotype Test

The XFp Cell Energy Phenotype Test Kit, from Seahorse Bioscience, enables a real-time assay on live cells that determines their baseline metabolic phenotype and potential. The 1 h test measures both the mitochondrial and glycolytic activity of the cells and compares their baseline values with metabolic activity under stressed conditions, induced by a single injection, to determine the metabolic potential.

The test is claimed to be the only method available that can provide a metabolic phenotype with which scientists can make direct, functional comparisons of both metabolic pathways between groups of live cells. With this information, cancer researchers can quickly realise the functional consequences of somatic mutations in terms of metabolic adaptations and reprogramming events that drive tumour malignancies.

By simultaneously measuring the relative utilisation of the two major energy pathways under both basal and stressed conditions, researchers can realise the metabolic consequence of genetic changes. For example, the test makes it easy to examine the role of metabolism in linking tumour survival and the Ras oncogenes. The phenotype of tumours containing the Ras oncogenes shows a significant reliance on glycolysis for energy when stressed, revealing a metabolic vulnerability for survival in the hypoxic and acidic environment of a large tumour.

The test requires only a small amount of sample to measure the metabolic phenotype and metabolic potential of cells and the XFp Cell Energy Phenotype Report Generator software automatically calculates the parameters of the test, simplifying data analysis and interpretation. The kit is used with the XFp Extracellular Flux Analyzer and is suitable for use in pairwise comparisons, as well as with patient-derived and other precious samples.