Table 1. Comparison of different substrate formats used for image-based high-content screening

Sample format	96-well plate	384-well plate	RNAi microarray
Number of samples	96	384	Up to 384
Well-to-well distance	Large	Medium	Small (spot to spot)
Optical glass bottom	Yes	Yes	Yes
Physical separation of wells	Yes	Yes	No
Cross-contamination possible	No	No	Possible
Cell-seeding time	Intermediate	Intermediate	Fast
Cell-seeding homogeneity	Very good with cell-seeding device	Very good with cell-seeding device	Good, manually
Transfection strategy	Liquid or reverse	Liquid or reverse	Reverse
Live cell assays	Possible	Possible	Ideal
Amount of siRNA per sample^a,b	107 ng/10.7 ng	36 ng/3.6 ng	0.41 ng/0.041 ng
Amount of transfection reagent^b,c	0.187 μL/0.094 μL	0.062 μL/0.031 μL	0.0036 μL/0.00036 μL

^aAmbion Silencer/Silencer select.
^bCalculated for an area of 34 mm² (96-well)/10.9 mm² (384-well)/0.1257 mm² (microarray spot).
^cInvitrogen Lipofectamine 2000 with Ambion Silencer/Silencer select.