LightBox: a multiwell plate illumination system for photoactive molecule characterization

Bounds, A.D.; Bailey, R.; Adams, C.T.; Callaghan, D.C.; Girkin, J.M.

Abstract

Multiwell plates (MWPs) are the workhorses of the life sciences. However, biophotonics research with MWPs is limited, in part due to the lack of equipment suitable for photo‐irradiation of photoactive molecules in a MWP‐suitable, high‐throughput manner, either commercially or through open‐source MWP systems. Here we present “LightBox”, a calibrated controllable MWP illumination system with broad applications including screening of photoactive molecules and characterization of photocatalytic chemicals. LightBox is a high intensity, accurately controllable, uniform illumination system designed for MWPs with electronics and a control unit that provides a simple and intuitive interface. LightBox can reach intensities of 0.23 mW/mm2 at wavelengths of 405 nm with variance between well sites of <5%. The usefulness of LightBox is demonstrated by assessing the IC50 of a photosensitizing compound using a live/dead assay following simultaneous irradiation of the sample at a range of concentrations, eliminating uncontrolled variables between concentrations and drastically increasing assessment speed.

Citation

Bounds, A., Bailey, R., Adams, C., Callaghan, D., & Girkin, J. (2021). LightBox: a multiwell plate illumination system for photoactive molecule characterization. Journal of Biophotonics, 14(5), Article e202000481. https://doi.org/10.1002/jbio.202000481

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 28, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Feb 12, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-05
• Deposit Date: Dec 2, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 7, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Biophotonics
• Print ISSN: 1864-063X
• Electronic ISSN: 1864-0648
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 5
• Article Number: e202000481
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jbio.202000481
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1249909