Receptomics: Calcium imaging of sensory receptor cell arrays in a microfluidic system and novel applications for food screening

Reverse-transfected cell arrays in microfluidic systems have strong potential to perform large-scale parallel screening of GPCR libraries. We have successfully combined the multi-variable nature of a receptor cell array with microfluidics allowing for controlled and sequential sample dosing [1]. Our receptomics platform uniquely allows for dosing of small sample quantities against a large receptor library including controls for host cell responses and sample colour. Compared to existing microtiter-plate systems it can be applied more efficiently for the screening of off-target effects and the discovery of bioactivities in complex extracts with strong and variable host cell responses. The sequential injection format allowed the development of powerful spot-based statistical models to discriminate between a host cell response and the superimposed specific GPCR response.