Traditionally an area of flow cytometry, many infection assays have been transferred from flow cytometry to imaging. High content analysis of cellular infection with pathogens encompasses a large number of different processes to which an imaging based readout can provide essential insights.

It starts with monitoring interactions between a pathogen and the cell surface and the entry of the pathogen into the cell. It involves the understanding of cellular signal transduction and transcriptional response to pathogen infection, all the way to real-time monitoring of cell viability during an infection process.

High resolution confocal imaging, as provided by our Opera™ and Operetta™ instruments, is an essential technology for a number of assays for infectious diseases. It enables 'mix and measure' homogeneous assays without the need for 'wash away' steps greatly simplifying the assay set-up process for high throughput screening, e.g. when adding an excess of labeled antibody. High resolution imaging is essential for distinguishing punctuate signals from evenly distributed signals, for example when analyzing association of viral spikes with lipid rafts.