Innovation Insider Newsletter - Premier Edition

A Note from Our Chief Science Officer

Welcome to WPI’s first Innovation Insider, our monthly newsletter dedicated to Advancing Science, Enabling Innovation, and Driving Discoveries.

The continued implementation of the FDA Modernization Act, and related global regulatory initiatives, marks a meaningful shift toward integrating non-animal, human relevant models into preclinical decision making. As these New Approach Methods (NAMs) gain traction, the expectations around data quality, reproducibility, and quantitative rigor are rising accordingly. Excitingly, this means that the opportunity to extract larger, more informative datasets from NAMs like organ-on-chip (OoC) platforms and other complex in vitro models is also greater than ever. Researchers and drug developers need measurement tools that can translate the complexity of these models into actionable insights that truly inform therapeutic development. Reliable, standardized endpoints are becoming essential for comparing platforms, validating mechanisms, and building confidence in emerging modalities.

At WPI, we are committed to supporting this transition by equipping researchers with the capability to acquire accurate, dependable, and meaningful data required to drive better disease understanding and enable safer, more effective therapies for patients. WPI is investing in R&D, collaborations, and strategic partnerships that make our ability to bring measurement tools that enable more, meaningful data to our customers. We are excited to have you join us as we explore this further in this issue of WPI’s Innovation Insider: Measurements that Matter.

Dr. Adrienne Watson
adriennew@wpiinc.com
Chief Scientific Officer,
World Precision Instruments

Innovation in Action!  

WPI is excited to announce that it has added electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) capabilities to it’s EVOM™ family of products. These capabilities, in the beta testing phase now, will be available commercially soon on EVOM™ Auto ElectroZ!

Learn more about WPI’s Automated TEER and EIS measurements here:



  WATCH VIDEO

WPI’s EIS enabled EVOM™ Auto ElectroZ delivers the analytical depth of traditional MEA-based electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (ECIS), while preserving the physiological relevance of Transwell based TEER. EIS allows researchers to go beyond measurements of barrier integrity and collect quantitative data about the underlying functional and morphological features of cells.1,2 It even provides a non-invasive, quick and easy way to evaluate confluency of cells grown on semi-permeable inserts, a capability never before available on transwell plates. Unlike ECIS, which requires cells to grow directly on expensive non-physiological electrode based culture plates, EVOM™ Auto ElectroZ quantifies and differentiates apical and basolateral membrane behavior by providing the membrane ratio (or Tau ratio) and provides information about both the transepithelial/endothelial  resistance (TEER) and capacitance (TEC) of the culture. This uniquely positions WPI to offer mechanistic insight with rapid, high throughput and non-invasive measurements, without sacrificing ideal, physiological culture methods for polarized or co-cultured cells, bridging the gap between classical TEER and ECIS in a way no other platform currently does. Together, these capabilities ensure researchers gain access to measurements that truly matter, and data that provides quantitative, mechanistic insights that reveal not just whether a barrier has changed, but how and why it is changing.

Science Spotlight  


WPI’s EVOM™ Auto ElectroZ, our newest technology that enables EIS measurements on cells grown in commercially available Transwell formats, also enables an entirely new measurement- the membrane ratio. The membrane ratio (or Tau ratio) is a biological metric that compares the two electrical time constants of a cell monolayer, reflecting how differently the apical and basolateral membranes behave electrically.Each cell type has a characteristic membrane ratio that reflects its unique apical and basolateral membrane properties1,2. Now, for the first time, researchers can use a non-invasive measurement, as simple as TEER measurements, to captures membrane specific physiology that TEER alone cannot capture. The membrane ratio reveals changes in cell polarity, membrane integrity, and transport dynamics that occur in health, disease, or during drug response. EVOM™ Auto ElectroZ enables measurements that matter: measurements like the membrane ratio, which, combined with the ability to deliver rapid and reliable resistance and capacitance measurements of cells grown on Transwell plates, makes this new technology an exciting and valuable addition to your in vitro workflow.

From the Lab to the Field

(Right) Tau ratio shows statistically significant elevation in iPSC-derived RPE samples from patients with ciliopathies, consistent with the observation that these cells demonstrate functional polarity.3

The Tau ratio (Tau_R) has recently been implemented as a functional indicator of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) polarization, in a publication in Cell Reports from Dr. Kapil Bharti’s laboratory. In ciliopathies, a group of disorders caused by mutations in over 150 genes involved in primary cilium structure and function, retinal degeneration is a prominent feature, caused by defects in the development and maturation of photoreceptors and RPE. Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived RPE (iPSC‑derived RPE) from patients with ciliopathies demonstrated  loss of microvilli, junctional disassembly, mesenchymal drift, alterations of the apical and basolateral membrane properties, and a shift in the Tau ratio, consistent with epithelial polarization defects.3 This study suggests the Tau ratio may be a useful biomarker for identifying iPSCs from patients with ciliopathies, identifying the mechanism by which functional polarization defects occur, and as a rapid and non-invasive readout for screening therapeutics for efficacy in reversing these impairments.3

READ THE FULL PAPER

Collaboration Corner

WPI is excited to introduce its newest collaborative partner, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), where Dr. Darius Rackus, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biology, is leading a comprehensive effort to functionally validate the EVOM™ Auto ElectroZ platform. His lab and other collaborating labs at TMU are generating reference EIS datasets across diverse cell lines, biological systems, and disease models, creating the foundational impedance signatures researchers need to extract deeper biological meaning from TEER and EIS measurements. Please join us in welcoming TMU and Dr. Darius Rackus to the WPI family!

Dr. Rackus
Dr. Darius Rackus
Assistant Professor of Chemistry & Biology, Toronto Metropolitan University

Let's Connect

  • WPI will be hosting a tabletop exhibit at Indiana University on October 13th. If you have interest in being a part of this event, contact Neil (neild@wpiinc.com) for more details!
  • WPI will be at BioFlorida this October 14-16 in Orlando, FL engaging with the biotech community in our backyard and discussing how our solutions are transforming barrier model research, supporting NAMs, and enabling therapeutic development, globally.
  • We’ll also be at Vascular Biology in Monterey, October 18-22, where we will present new data from our latest organ on chip platform, EVOM™ Chip, a breakthrough microphysiological system designed for real time, multiplex TEER for organ-on-chip. Learn more about EVOM™ Chip! At Society for Neuroscience (SFN), November 14-18, you can find us on the exhibit floor at Booth #800, where we’ll be demonstrating EVOM™ Auto ElectroZ and discussing how impedance spectroscopy is opening new frontiers in epithelial and endothelial cell research.
  • Finally, at Cell Biology in San Diego, December 12-15, WPI will present our newest EIS measurement capabilities, highlighting how multi frequency impedance can reveal functional polarization, membrane behavior, and mechanistic insights across advanced cell and tissue models.

Connect with our Distributors!

We look forward to connecting with you and sharing how WPI is delivering measurements that matter.

References

  1. Chien, A. J., Lewallen, C. F., Khor, H., Vazquez Cegla, A., Guo, R., Watson, A. L., Hatcher, C., McCarty, N. A., Bharti, K., & Forest, C. R. (2025). Method for Extracellular Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy on Epithelial Cell Monolayers. Bio protocol, 15(12), e5341. https://bio-protocol.org/en/bpdetail.
  2. Lewallen, C. F., Chien, A., Maminishkis, A., Hirday, R., Reichert, D., Sharma, R., Wan, Q., Bharti, K., & Forest, C. R. (2023). A biologically validated mathematical model for decoding epithelial apical, basolateral, and paracellular electrical properties. American Journal of Physiology – Cell Physiology, 325, C1470–C1484. https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpcell.00200.2023.
  3. Reichert, D., Gul, S., Ortolan, D., McGaughey, D., Montford, J., Ryu, J., Jeffrey, A. S., Lewallen, C. F., Veres, K., Villasmil, R., Carreiro, N. D. W., Tsang, S. H., Huryn, L. A., Brooks, B. P., Zein, W., May Simera, H. L., Sharma, R., & Bharti, K. (2026). Mesenchymal drift in ciliopathy iPSC derived RPE reveals a convergent pathogenic cell state. Cell Reports, 45, 117906. https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(26)00984-8.

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