Cell and Tissue Culture
Cell and tissue culture is a method of cultivating biological cells in vitro and has now become one of the most widespread laboratory techniques. Primary cultures can be derived from blood or tissue explants and thousands of immortalised cell lines are now available from tissue culture collections.
In vitro culture is a cornerstone of numerous disciplines with a diversity of applications including toxicity and drug screening, cell signalling and pathway study, developmental biology and tissue regeneration with stem cells. Successful cultivation is dependent on providing a suitable environment for the cell type in question and can vary considerably between cells from different tissue origins, whilst some cultures are adherent, other cells grow as suspension cultures.
FUJIFILM Wako Lab Chemicals presents a wide lineup of products for use in cell culture applications, from regulating plant tissue growth to cultivating stem cells for regenerative medicine.
Stem Cell Culture
Stem cell research is a specialised area of tissue culture which involves cultivating undifferentiated cells into a diverse range of cell types. Stem cells are generally split into two categories – embryonic stem cells (ES) and adult stem cells.
Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, which means they are able to differentiate into any specialised cell type –pluripotency is considered to be a highly desirable trait within the field of regenerative medicine, as it enables cells to propagate indefinitely and replace cells lost to disease or injury. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iSPC) are an alternative to embryonic stem cells and are created through the reprogramming of adult stem cells.
FUJIFILM Wako is a producer of a wide range of reagents and small molecules for use in cutting-edge stem cell research. The CultureSure® Small Molecules product range includes key products for enhancing stem cell culture, such as the ready-to-use CEPT cocktail for improving viability in iPSC culture and the new GMP-compliant variant of the Y-27632 ROCK inhibitor, which has been reported to suppress death of human ES/iPS cells at cell dispersion.
Furthermore, the StemSure® reagent range has been specifically created for use with sensitive stem cell cultures. Each StemSure® product has been tested by culturing mouse ES D3 strain cells and performing colony forming assessment and alkaline phosphatase staining in addition to the standard tests for sterility etc. on culture products.
Cryogenic Preservation
Cryogenically preserved cells, such as the HeLa cell line derived from the cervical carcinoma of Henrietta Lacks, have been transported to laboratories all over the world and had an outstanding impact on scientific development. Maintaining cell cultures during long-term research, transport or any period of inactivity can be challenging, as there are considerable risks while cells are kept in culture of contamination from bacteria and other cell lines, as well as changes to the characteristics of the cell line.
As a result, cell preservation through freezing is an effective method for temporarily stopping all biological activity while keeping cells alive for future use. Nonetheless, low temperatures can cause ice crystal formation within cells, frequently causing damage and compromising viability.
BAMBANKER™ serum-free cell freezing medium has been developed as a unique, patented cryoprotectant that preserves even the most fragile of cells during cell freezing. BAMBANKER™ has demonstrated exemplary survival rates in both human and animal cells in a wide range of tests – now achievable without the need to spin-down and isolate cells before freezing with the BAMBANKER™ Direct format.
Specialist Culture Ware
For optimal cultivation of cells, culture conditions must be ideal. As a result, Alpha sells a variety of culture ware products, specifically formulated for enhancing cell culture.
Improving stem cell culture success is a strong focus for these products – the PrimeSurface® range of culture plates and dishes by FUJIFILM Wako contain proprietary low-protein-adsorption technology to minimise cell adhesion and encourage spheroid cell colony formation.
