Petaka Cell Culturing System in Action

Used for Hypoxia Induction
Cells are the engine of cell-based assays. Our Petaka^TM Cell Culture System knock-down barriers that stand between you and success. The system is especially designed to grow cells in an isolated, auto-modified environment, highly protected from external environmental conditions.

In this study, for hypoxia induction, Petaka G3 low oxygen transfer flasks (Neuromics) were used to culture melanoma cell lines or primary melanocytes for 48–96 h at 37°C until >80% confluent: Rachel L. G. Maus, James W. Jakub, Wendy K. Nevala, Trace A. Christensen, Klara Noble-Orcutt, Zohar Sachs, Tina J. Hieken, and Svetomir N. Markovic. Human Melanoma-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Regulate Dendritic Cell Maturation. Front Immunol. 2017; 8: 358. Published online 2017
Mar 29. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00358.

Hypoxia increases extracellular vesicles (EVs) production in metastatic melanoma cell line SKMEL28 not primary melanocytes. Melanoma cell lines and adult primary melanocytes were cultured under hypoxia or normoxia conditions for 48 h. Morphology and CD63 vesicle marker expression of SKMEL28 EVs was confirmed by immune electron microscopy (A) and vesicle size distribution and particle concentration measured by nanoparticle tracking analysis (Nanosight) [(B), representative image]. Total concentration of normoxic (gray) or hypoxic (black) vesicles isolated from three melanoma cell lines and healthy primary melanocytes was quantified by Nanosight following three replicate 30-s video captures of three EV preparations (C) (n = 3 independent experiments).

Petaka advantages include:

• No requirement of CO2 incubator or humid incubator. 
• Exact volume of media per culture. 
• Cell growth on vertical walls segregates cells and debris. 
• Negligible dehydration rates Protected against leaks or spills. 
• Higher cell yields. 
• Shipping and short term cell maintenance at room temperature.

Gap Junctions (GJs) and Glaucoma

GJs Can Offer Neuroprotection
This study references use of our GFAP Antibody,

Gap junctions (GJs), intercellular channels composed of subunit connexins, can play a major role in secondary cell death by forming conduits through which toxic molecules from dying cells pass to and injure coupled neighbors. Secondary cells like glia and astrocytes are involved in this process though the precise mechanisms have yet to be defined: Abram Akopian, Sandeep Kumar, Hariharasubramanian Ramakrishnan, Kaushambi Roy, Suresh Viswanathan, and Stewart A. Bloomfield. Targeting neuronal gap junctions in mouse retina offers neuroprotection in glaucoma. J Clin Invest. doi:10.1172/JCI91948. Copyright © 2017, The American Society for Clinical Investigation. ...anti-GFAP (1:1,000, RA22101; Neuromics)...

Figure: Reactive gliosis in retinas of microbead-injected mice is significantly reduced by GJ blockade/ablation. (A) Confocal images of retinal layers stained for GFAP, SMI32, and DAPI in control and glaucomatous retinas. Scale bar: 50 μm in all panels. Z-stack: 7 sections, 3-μm steps. (B) GFAP expression in the retinal layers of CxWT and Cx36–/– mouse retinas under different conditions (n = 6 retinas per group). (C) GFAP labeling in retinal sections from control and microbead-injected CxWT (n = 5 retinas), Cx36–/– (n = 5 retinas), and Cx36–/– Cx45–/– mice (n = 3 retinas). GFAP expression is presented as percentage of immunolabeling per area.

Our Neuron/Synapse, Astrocytes, Glia, Microglia, Oligodendrocytes, Progenitors and Schwann Cell Markers are frequently referenced and I will continue to post new developments.

Modeling HIV Latency

Generation of Infected Neurons
Researchers have developed a Neuronal Cell Line for the study of HSV-1 infection in humans. This line was developed by terminally differentiating human embryonic stem cells to neurons.

Our mouse monoclonal nestin antibody was used as a marker for the neural progenitor phase of this differentiation. Aldo Pourchet, Aram S. Modrek, Dimitris G. Placantonakis, Ian Mohr and Angus C. Wilson. Modeling HSV-1 Latency in Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Neurons. Pathogens 2017, 6(2), 24; doi:10.3390/pathogens6020024.

Image:  In vitro derivation of human neural stem cells by differentiation of the Hes5::GFP human embryonic stem cell line. (A) Schematic showing the multistep neural induction protocol. TGFβi stands for TGF-β receptor I inhibitor (B) Bright field image of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) colonies cultured on mouse embryonic fibroblasts prior to reaching confluence. (C) Bright field image of rosette NSCs derived from dissociated hESC colonies cultured in neural induction media. (D) Phase contrast and indirect immunofluorescence images of NSC cultures grown on poly-l-ornithine/laminin-coated dishes in neural stem cell media and probed with an antibody against nestin, a neural stem cell marker. Nuclei were visualized with DAPI.

We will continue to post publications referencing use of our solutions.

Neuromics' Customers

How They Find Us and What they Buy

Trust is hard to maintain and easily lost. It is important to us that our customers can find us and the products required to meet their research needs.

In order to nurture trust, we follow up with each and every customer to make sure they are happy with their Neuromics' experience. We include the opportunity for them to formally rate this experience @ https://birdeye.com/neuromics-186498936.

We plan on rolling out a new website. Our goal is to make it even easier for customers to find us and present content in a way that aligns with customers' needs. This includes making sure content is configured in a way that works on all platforms used including mobile devices.

As part of the process, we recently surveyed users for areas of research, platforms used, how they find companies like ours and what the purchase. Here're rollups of some of the results.

Our customers most frequently purchase Antibodies and Markers. Cells and Cell-Based Assays are increasingly important, We plan on making it easier for users to find related protocols, publications, data and alternative product options.

Trust, for us, includes the ability for our customers to find the correct solutions and if they prove not to work, offer fixes or full refunds. As in the past, we will be posting updates, publications and customer generated data here.

New Website

Your Help Needed

We will be rolling out a new Neuromics' Website in August 2017. Our goal is to make it easy for you to find us and the solutions that meet your needs. Your input will help us achieve this. We have a short survey.