Thermo Fisher Scientific has launched the Nunc Upcell surface for temperature-induced cell harvesting.
Designed to enable quick dissociation of cells from the culture surface upon a simple change in temperature, the Nunc Upcell surface needs no enzymatic treatment (trypsinisation) and cell scraping, while maintaining cell viability and the integrity of surface receptors and antigens.
Even cell types that are difficult to detach by other methods and contiguous cell sheets can be harvested from the Nunc Upcell surface, and harvested cell sheets can be stacked on top of each other in order to create 3D tissue models and co-cultures.
The Nunc Upcell surface is available as sterile Microwell plates, dishes and multi-dishes, all with a certificate stating conformance to functional, sterility, non-pyrogenic and toxicity tests.
The Nunc Upcell surface consists of a covalently immobilised polymer, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) or PIPAAM, which forms a thin, even layer on the culture dish or plate.
The surface is slightly hydrophobic at 37C, allowing cells to attach and grow, but becomes hydrophilic when the temperature is reduced to below 32C, binding water and swelling, resulting in the release of adherent cells with their underlying extracellular matrix (ECM).
The retention of the ECM under the cells enables the harvesting of contiguous cell sheets with preserved cell polarisation and cell-cell junctions, and the attachment of one cell sheet to another cell sheet or a graft site without the use of fibrin glue or sutures.
3D tissue models and co-cultures can thus be created without scaffolds and exogenous materials, greatly simplifying cell culture for tissue engineering.
