Plate and method for high throughput screening

Abstract

A multiple well plate and method for media exchange, including a body defining a plurality of cell wells each connected via a channel to one of a plurality of aspiration holes, is provided. The cell wells contain a porous, hydrophilic frit which is suspended on a ledge above a reservoir of fluid media and supports a tissue sample. The properties of the frit wick the fluid media upwards to supply the tissue sample with nutrients for growth and proliferation. Old media is aspirated from the wells by a liquid handling device which inserts a pipette tip into the aspiration holes. The pipette tip applies a suction pressure which draws the media out of the cell well, through the channel, into the aspiration hole and out through the pipette tip. New media is dispersed through the pipette tip and directly into the cell well.

1 . A multiple well plate for holding a porous frit that supports a tissue which is to be bathed in a media that is regularly aspirated and refreshed by a top-loading multi-head pipette device, said multiple well plate comprising: 
 a body formed of a liquid impervious material having substantially planar upper and lower surfaces;    a plurality of wells formed in said body and arranged in a uniformly spaced grid of columns and rows, each well having an open upper end at the upper surface of the body and a bottom portion defined within the body and below the upper surface of the body, and each well being configured to receive and support the porous frit and the tissue and to hold the media bathing the porous frit and the tissue;    an aspirator hole formed in said body adjacent each of said wells, the aspirator holes being arranged in a uniformly spaced grid of columns and rows, and each having an open upper end at the upper surface of the body and a bottom portion defined within the body and below the upper surface of the body; and    a channel formed in said body and providing fluid communication between the bottom portion of each well and the bottom portion of the respective adjacent aspirator hole so that a multi-head pipette device can simultaneously access a plurality of aspirator holes to aspirate the media through vacuum application and refresh the media by pumping in fresh media without removal of the tissue and the porous frit from the multiple well plate.