If you work in Biology, you’ve most certainly heard of HeLa cells, as they have been around for over 60 years and are some of the most extensively used cell lines in Biomedical research. But where did these cell lines come from? [Read more…]
Tips for primary cell culture
Functionality and viability of primary cells can be impaired by incorrect thawing procedures, storage or culture conditions. It’s generally admitted that applying the same protocols as for cell lines leads will lead to bad cell quality. Well, based on our experience with primary cells, here are a few tips you can follow to ensure you get the best performance.
3 new types of Gastrointestinal (GI) Epithelial primary cells
Gastrointestinal (GI) primary cells represent a powerful approach for the in vitro study of the physiopathology of this unique tissue. Researchers have now identify intimate interactions between GI cells and its microbia with neurological disorders pointing out the need to access highly characterized sources of GI primary cells to design reliable and more physiologically relevant in vitro cellular models.
[Read more…]
3D cell culture Biochip – versatile for more physiological applications
By mimicking in-vivo environments, 3D cell culture models appear nowadays as the best in-vitro study model to work in an in-vivo like study model and to obtain more physiologically relevant data and proof of concept as close as possible to “a clinical context” (aka the “near-human” approach).
3D cell culture chip – AIM Biotech tebu-bio – near-human approaches
To accompany researchers along this way, there are several innovative cell culture devices (available in Europe through tebu-bio), and more specifically a modular microfluidic platform for 3D cell culture with the capability to monitor complex biological systems dynamics in response to tuned microenvironment: the 3D Cell culture chip (Aim Biotech) [Read more…]
Pluripotent stem cells for improved reprogrammed Human Sebocytes
Following the start of our recent collaboration with Phenocell, we’re pleased to be able to provide high quality Sebocytes developed from Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). Thanks to a perfectly standardized reprogramming protocol, they display lower batch to batch variability, allowing better reproducibility and accuracy of your experimental results. [Read more…]
Microcell arrays – obtain more accurate data from single living cells
Understanding how mammalian cells function requires a dynamic perspective. Recent improvements in our abilities to perform fluorescence microscopy on primary cells, coupled with advances in pipelines for quantifying and extracting data, have made possible a better understanding of the temporal complexity of cell signalling pathway. Due to the heterogeneity seen in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell populations, study at the single cell resolution with living cells is currently the best solution to understand the dynamics between environmental conditions and cellular behaviour.
However as living cells don’t stay still, classical imaging and studying methods present some drawbacks for single cell analysis and tracking such as: [Read more…]
Human Islets for Research – Which factors affect their quality?
The islets of Langerhans are the regions of the pancreas that contain its endocrine (i.e., hormone-producing) cells. Discovered in 1869 by German pathological anatomist Paul Langerhans, the islets of Langerhans constitute approximately 1% to 2% of the mass of the pancreas. There are about one million islets distributed throughout the pancreas of a healthy adult human. Each is separated from the surrounding pancreatic tissue by a thin fibrous connective tissue capsule. The islets of Langerhans contain beta cells, which secrete insulin, and play a significant role in diabetes.
Islets are widely used for transplantation to restore beta cell function from diabetes, offering an alternative to a complete pancreas transplantation or an artificial pancreas. Because the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans are selectively destroyed by an autoimmune process in type 1 diabetes, islet transplantation is a means of restoring physiological beta cell function in patients with type 1 diabetes.
Human Islets for Research (HIR)® are primary human islets processed from organ donor pancreases that have been approved for research but not for clinical transplantation of either the pancreas or the isolated islets. HIR® are obtained in a proprietary process of pancreas digestion and islet purification that results in uniformly high quality HIR® for delivery to diabetes investigators. Quality Control (QC) testing is routinely performed prior to release to assure uniform quality and function of these islets available for research. [Read more…]
3D Cell culture: Innovative cell culture devices for more predictive 3D models
One of the biggest challenges as a researcher in life sciences, is to obtain proof of concept the more predictive as possible. To help you to reach your objectives, many innovative tools are being developed and new techniques are emerging. In this post, I’d like to essentially focus on two innovative cell culture devices which mimic in-vivo conditions in in-vitro systems, in fields such as 3D cell culture, Microfluidics and oriented cell culture. [Read more…]
Proof that 2 = 5 ! Yes it does, in cell culture…
I have to admit that I never received the Fields Medal in Mathematics. Therefore, I won’t be able to develop this equation and prove that I’m right. However, what I can prove, is that in cell culture, 2 = 5. How is this possible?
CTLA-4 discovery in dendritic cells – a new role in Cancer Immunotherapy?
New research suggests that dendritic cells produce and release CTLA-4, which typically inhibits anticancer responses.
Cancer immunotherapy strategies have made it increasingly evident that the immune system plays an integral role in managing and destroying cancer. Nevertheless, many mechanisms of immune suppression exist that may inhibit antitumour immunity. Recently, strategies that implement antibodies directed against negative immunologic regulators have demonstrated significant success. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associate protein-4 (CTLA-4) was the first immunologic checkpoint to be clinically targeted, by the cancer immunotherapeutic ipilimumab, an FDA-approved drug to treat melanoma. After T-cell activation, CTLA-4 is upregulated on the cell surface where it functions to downregulate T cell function. Ipilimumab binds to CTLA-4 on T cells, which blocks the inhibitory signals and enhances anti-cancer immune responses.