publication date: May 2, 2012
|
author/source: Alto Marketing Limited
Reinnervate Ltd and Roslin Cellab, two
leading UK companies in the fields of 3D cell culture and stem cell biology,
today announced that they will join forces to develop protocols for the three
dimensional growth of human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs).
‘This is a great opportunity for two
innovative UK companies to combine their expertise and knowledge to produce
exciting new tools for stem cell biologists' said Richard Rowling - Commercial
Director at Reinnervate Ltd. ‘We are delighted that Roslin Cellab has agreed to
work with us on this project. They bring a wealth of experience and expert
knowledge in the development and delivery of custom tools and protocols in the
field of hESC biology. Their professional approach and attention to detail is
just what we were looking for' he added.
Prof Stefan Przyborski, CSO and
founder of Reinnervate Ltd, commented: ‘It is well known that the physical
environment in which cells grow plays an important role in controlling cell
differentiation and the development of functioning tissues. Current two
dimensional (2D) models restrict the growth potential of differentiating stem
cells. The culture of cells in three dimensions (3D) radically enhances
cell growth, differentiation and function. At Reinnervate, we have developed
Alvetex
®Scaffold which provides a solution for simple and
routine 3D cell culture. In this collaboration, we are combining the
advantages of 3D cell growth with the enormous potential of hESCs.
Preliminary work has already demonstrated enhanced neural development by stem
cells using Alvetex
®Scaffold technology. We are now
engaged in more extensive investigations to fully exploit 3D cell
differentiation by hESCs in collaboration with Roslin Cell Lab.'
Jason King, Manager of Business
Development at Roslin Cellab said ‘we are seeing great demand for improved 3D
culture systems. Stem cell scientists can use these to study the biology of the
stem cell "niche". This is the 3D microenvironment in which stem cells normally
reside until they receive signals that cause them to start dividing and to move
out into the organ to differentiate into cells of the required type (eg. heart,
brain or liver cells) and repair tissue damage. As a company we have a strong
interest in liver cells (hepatocytes) which we can make from our stem cell
lines. It is known that when hepatocytes are grown in 3D structures, they have
both better metabolic enzyme activity and extended life spans, which are both
great advantages when using these cells in cell-based toxicity assays.'
As part of the collaboration,
Reinnervate will supply its market leading Alvetex
®Scaffold
technology and general expertise in the 3D growth of cells in vitro. Roslin
Cellab will supply cells, expertise and protocol development capabilities to
the project.
The two companies will also
investigate the growth of hESC's on new alvetex
® product
formats that may offer the ability to improve and simplify embryoid body assay
protocols. Embryoid bodies are derived from stem cells and consist of a
broad array of differentiated tissues. In many respects they resemble the
structures that form in teratoma tumours when stem cells are transplanted into
an animal host. An aspect of this collaboration will include using
alvetex technology to support the growth of embryoid body-like
structures. This will subsequently be developed into a robust procedure
to reduce the need to use animals for producing teratomas as a test of stem
cell developmental potential.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
For more information visit
www.reinnervate.com
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