BioIVT Immune Cells FAQs
PBMCs and immune cell subsets are essential tools in various fields, including immunology and cancer research, diagnostic testing and cell therapy. They provide critical insights into immune responses to diseases, infections, vaccines, and drugs, and are used to investigate immune cell function, differentiation, and signaling pathways. PBMCs and immune cell subsets are also used to assess the safety and efficacy of new drugs and therapies, identify new biomarkers associated with immune-related diseases, and develop new cancer immunotherapies.
We offer an extensive donor collection of validated, fully characterized, and ready-to-use cryopreserved PBMCs and immune cells, including B cells, T cells, and NK cells, through our partnership with BioIVT. We also provide information about HLA type for many of BioIVT cells that we offer. Here, our scientists answer your frequency asked questions about BioIVT cells and culture. For more information about the cells from BioIVT that we offer, click here.
What types of immune cells do you offer?
Currently, we offer Bone Marrow Mononuclear cell (BMMCs) and Peripheral Blood Mononuclear cell (PMBC) populations that include lymphocytes (T cells, B cells, and NK cells), monocytes and macrophages, and dendritic cells. For PMBCs, our offering includes donors in both healthy and diseased states, such as diabetes or Crohn’s disease, as well as specific subsets of immune cells:
Who are the donors?
Depending on which category of cells from BioIVT you choose, you can select from healthy donors of various age ranges or donors with specific diseases such as Crohn’s, COPD, Diabetes and more.
Can I request cells by donor specific criteria?
Yes, you can request a list of donors with their available information including donor demographics such as: gender, age, race/ethnicity, medical data, disease state, and other donor attributes.
Are the samples unique?
If the cells are the same lot number and from the same donor, they are aliquots from one collection and their cell concentration and activity will be the same. A network of repeat donors also helps to ensure that there is a stock of the same donor PBMCs for experimental repeats. Pooled donor lots have specific requirements including activity, the number of donors, and gender, among other lot requirements.
Are the cells collected from donors in accordance with ethical and regulatory standards?
Sample collections are ethically conducted under IRB-approved protocols. Full documentation available including informed consent forms.
Can I get more cells from the same donor I already ordered from?
Yes, this is possible based on available inventory. We also can request more samples from specific donors if needed.
Can I reserve specific lots of inventory while I run preliminary tests?
Yes, you can reserve vials from specific lots while testing occurs. Lots are typically held for one month before being released back into inventory. Please note: lot specific orders are not able to be placed through the web. Contact your local sales rep for more details.
What do you mean by “frozen” cells?
“Frozen” is another word for “cryopreserved” and is used to describe our cells. Our BioIVT cell lines are shipped with dry ice and are ideally stored in liquid nitrogen (-196˚C), but can be kept at -80˚C.
What is your thawing procedure?
To thaw BioIVT cells, place the cells in the vial in a 37˚C waterbath for two minutes. Then remove the cells from the vial to a 50ml centrifuge tube. Add 9ml of warmed RPMI media, drop by drop, to the cells and spin down at 300 x g for 3 mins
Remove the media and resuspend the cell pellet with the amount of RPMI media to achieve the final concentration of 1 million cells per ml. Incubate the cells at 37˚C overnight.
What is your normal thawing media?
The thawing media that we use for our immune cells is RPMI.
Can I use cells immediately post thaw, or should they rest before use?
While the cells can be used immediately post-thaw, we highly recommend that you rest the cells overnight to recover their activity.
What is HLA typing?
HLA stands for Human Leukocyte Antigen, which are proteins or markers that are found on most of the cells in your body. HLA typing is used to match patients and donors for bone marrow or cord blood transplants. Your immune system uses these markers to recognize which cells belong in your body and which do not. We offer information regarding HLA type for many of our cell types from BioIVT.
What does it mean when the cells are “negatively selected”?
Negative selection uses an antibody or specific marker on the cell to bind and remove unwanted cell types, leaving only the desired cells of interest. This type of negative selection prevents the cells from becoming “activated” from the selection process. Negative selection is the opposite of positive selection, which uses the antibodies or labeling agents of the specific marker to selectively remove only the cell of interest.
What quality checks have been performed on batch?
To ensure the consistent and reliable quality of its cell lots, BioIVT performs several QC tests including viability, purity, and pathogen contamination; the collection has a viability of greater than 70% and a purity of over 85% as measured via flow cytometry. BioIVT also provides information on any pathogens that they screen for specifically on the Certificate of Analysis.
Which pathogens do you screen for?
BioIVT cells are screened for Hepatitis B Surface Antigen, HIV 1/2 Antibody, HCV Antibody, HIV/HBV/HCV NAT, Syphilis (RPR), WNV NAT, Chagas (T. cruzi), HTLV I/II, and Babesia.
Will these cells work in my application?
Every assay will need to be independently optimized. While we cannot guarantee that any cell product will work for a specific application under specific conditions, our research and development (R&D) team has independently validated these immune cells for viability, phenotype, and activation (see technical article here). Our R&D teams have also optimized ADCC assays using cryopreserved NK cells with adherent (see figure below) and suspension target cells.
Figure 1.Cryopreserved BioIVT NK effector cells, A549 target cells that expressed a luciferase reporter gene, and an anti-EGFR antibody were used for the ADCC assay. The luciferase assay was to measure cell killing.
Will I need to alter my protocol when working with cryopreserved cells?
Our BioIVT cryopreserved cells maintain the same viability and phenotype as fresh, non-cryopreserved cells. However, we recommend incubating thawed cryopreserved cells overnight at 37˚C before adding to the target cells
How do I track my order?
You can view your order status online through the “Account” tab on the site header by selecting “Your Orders” in the drop-down menu.
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