AXIS-SHIELD

All our Application sheets on OptiPrep have now been updated. We have also added a few new Mini-Reviews.

In some of the Application sheets there are links to the Mini-Reviews. However, these links are not working just now. To find these Mini-Reviews click on Mini-Reviews in the main menu.

Axis-Shield Density Gradient Media will exhibit at the following meetings in November and December:

Neuroscience, Washington DC, November 13th - 16th

American Society of Cell Biology, Denver, CO, December 4th-6th

We look forward to see you there.

Axis-Shield PoC would like to point out that Nycodenz and Histodenz (Sigma Chemical) are not the same product, even though they have the same chemical composition (iohexol).

Nycodenz is produced in Norway and the iohexol used in the product is a drug substance. Histodenz is a copy product produced in China.

Histodenz is a trademark of Sigma Chemical Company.

From May 1st 2011 we have a new distributor in France.

The new distributor is Proteogenix in Oberhausbergen (close to Strasbourg). They can be reached on phone no: 03 90 20 54 70. For further information please go to: www.proteogenix.fr

We have posted four new Mini-Reviews today.

Mini-Review 1 2011 Purification of viral vectors for cell transduction in cancer studies

Mini-Review 2 2011 Subcellular membrane analysis of tumor cells using OptiPrep

Mini-Review 3 2011 Purification and analysis of hepatitis C virus in gradients prepared from OptiPrep

Mini-Review 4 2011 Purification of mononuclear cells, monocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes

Click on Mini-Reviews on the menu bar.

Axis-Shield’s density gradient media – Nycodenz and OptiPrep can provide higher resolution of endosomal compartments than the traditional sucrose gradients. The new Axis-Shield Mini-Review No. 3 [2010] provides a summary of the technology as applied to both tissues and cultured cells. In addition to the routine pre-formed gradients, OptiPrep can also offer a self-generated mode that makes gradient formation simple and highly reproducible.

A companion Mini-Review – No. 2 [2010] – provides a reference list of the all the known papers reporting the use of both Nycodenz and OptiPrep in endocytosis analysis. The list is divided into tissue and cell type and, when merited by the number of references, also into functional study.

Detailed methodologies are given in a series of Axis-Shield Application Sheets that are listed in Mini-Review 2 [2010].

Mini-Reviews 2 2010  and 3 2010 are available by clicking on "Mini-Reviews" in the main menu

One of the focuses of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine research is the efficient in vitro growth of cells from biopsy material on a plastic substratum, as a prelude to its eventual use clinically. A recent paper by Bruce et al [1] reported on the culture of urothelial cells from non-neurogenic and neurogenic human bladder tissue. The publication described the suspension of the cells in a 12% (w/v) iodixanol solution, overlaid with a small layer of culture medium. During centrifugation this allowed the viable epithelial cells to float to the surface while non viable cells, debris and erythrocytes sediment. The absence of an interface at which viable cells and non-viable cells might aggregate together is a critical feature of this system. The authors reported that the iodixanol “clean-up” increased the percentage of attached cells 24 h after plating from 27% to 84% and that multiple large colonies of cells were observed with the purified cells.

¨ The well-established low endotoxin levels in OptiPrep and the clinical acceptability of iodixanol as an X-ray imaging agent underline the importance of applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine research

Bruce, A.T., Sangha, N., Richmond, A., Johnson, K., Jones, S., Spencer, T. and Ludlow, J.W. (2010) Use of iodixanol self-generated density gradients to enrich for viable urothelial cells from non-neurogenic and neurogenic bladder tissue Tissue Eng., Part C Methods 16, 33-40

Axis-Shield Application Sheet C13 provides detailed methodological options for viable cell enrichment and can be accessed by clicking on "Isolation of mammalian cells" on the front page.

All application sheets in the C-series have now been updated. We have also added a few new applications based on Nycodenz. To find all the different applications, click on Methodology on the main menu.

Today we have the pleasure of launching  another OptiPrep Application Sheet:

C40 Isolation of mononuclear cells from tissues.

To find the new methods click on "Methodology" in the main menu

We have today launched two new OptiPrepTM Application sheets.

C43 Isolation of mononuclear cells from rat, mouse and rabbit blood on a density barrier, is a replacement for the product NycoPrepTM 1.077A which was withdrawn from the market earlier this year.

C45 Isolation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (granulocytes) from rat, mouse and rabbit blood, is an addition to our product Polymorphprep, which is used for the isolation of polymorphonuclear cells from human blood.

Both application sheets can be found by clicking on "OptiPrep Application Sheets" in the main menu.

We have also launced a Polymorphprep Applications Sheet, which can be found under the heading "Products"