LGC is partnering with Reinnervate, a UK biotechnology company, to offer its novel three-dimensional (3D) in vitro culturing scaffold, Alvetex.
Manufactured from porous polystyrene, Alvetex enables 3D cell culture with minimal alteration to routine laboratory procedures, offering substantial benefits associated with improved cell growth.
In contrast with conventional 2D cell culture, where cells are grown in flat sheets, Alvetex provides a scaffold within which cells can grow and signal one another, forming 3D structures and retaining cell morphology that effectively mimics in vivo cell growth.
The Alvetex system is expected to have a large impact across cell-culture research and there has already been a considerable body of peer-reviewed publications generated using the Alvetex scaffold.
One application of this 3D scaffold is to improve research into the toxicity of new pharmaceuticals, which has the potential to reduce the need for animal-based testing.
Through studies funded by the UK's National Measurement System, LGC scientists have demonstrated the ability of Alvetex to imitate liver cells in the corporeal environment with significantly higher expression of key liver enzymes involved in drug metabolism and improved responses of the cells to known cytotoxic compounds.
The improved data generation offered by Reinnervate's 3D technology for the drug-discovery and development process will be a key focus of LGC's partnership with Reinnervate.
