Transfection efficiency
Transfection efficiency for a fluorescent reporter gene can be monitored in different ways. One way is to measure fluorescence with a microplate reader. This allows one to assess the overall fluorescence level in each test well, but it does not give the percent of cells transfected. A more informative way to assess transfection efficiency is to analyze the cells using an imaging cytometer, where the number of cells expressing detectable fluorescence can be compared to the total cell number. The imaging cytometer has the added benefit of enabling calculation of cell confluence prior to transfection, so that this information can be used as part of assay development.