Billerica, MA — EMD Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck KGaA* of Germany, today announced the introduction of the Millicell µ-Migration Assay Kit. This innovative slide-based platform can be used to visualize and measure the effects of chemoattractants on the migration of adherent cells in real time. The kit is ideal for studying metastatic behavior or the effects of toxins.

The Boyden chamber is the most commonly used assay for studying chemotaxis. This end-point assay uses chambers separated by a microporous filter. Cells migrate through the filter towards a chemoattractant. Despite its popularity, the assay has limitations. Boyden chambers do not allow for the establishment of a stable linear gradient, so the assay tends to have poor reproducibility. In addition, movement of cells through the filter cannot be visualized.

The Millicell µ-Migration Assay replaces the filter with micro-channels. Cells migrating in these channels can be directly observed and their progress can be quantitatively measured. Real-time observation of individual cells provides insight into a number of cell migration parameters, including directionality, velocity, and the migration index of tracked cells. In addition, the kit provides a stable linear concentration gradient for up to 48 hours.

With high optical properties similar to those of glass, the Millicell µ-Migration slide is suitable for the analysis of slow- or fast-moving cells by video microscopy. Up to three assays can be run in parallel on each slide with approximately 100 to 200 cells per assay.

The kit comes assembled and ready-to-use with a Millicell µ-Migration slide and migration assay reagents. It joins the Millicell µ-Angiogenesis Assay Kits in EMD Millipore’s growing portfolio of cell-based assays.

About EMD Millipore

EMD Millipore is the Life Science division of Merck KGaA of Germany and offers a broad range of innovative, performance products, services and business relationships that enable our customers’ success in research, development and production of biotech and pharmaceutical drug therapies. Through dedicated collaboration on new scientific and engineering insights, and as one of the top three R&D investors in the Life Science Tools industry, EMD Millipore serves as a strategic partner to customers and helps advance the promise of life science.

Headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, the division has around 10,000 employees, operations in 64 countries and pro forma 2009 revenues of $2.9 billion. EMD Millipore is known as Merck Millipore outside of the U.S. and Canada.

Millipore and Millicell are registered trademarks of Millipore Corporation. The M logo is a trademark of Merck KGaA. EMD is a registered trademark of Merck KGaA.

*Merck KGaA or Merck shall mean Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany