Kit Combines the Benefits of Two Existing Innovative Cell Culture Technologies

Cell Guidance Systems Ltd and Manchester BIOGEL announced a collaboration to launch PODS®

CAMBRIDGE and MANCHESTER, UK — Cell Guidance Systems Ltd, a specialist in the control, manipulation, and monitoring of cells, both in vitro and in vivo, and Manchester BIOGEL, a biotechnology company specializing in the design and manufacture of 3D synthetic peptide hydrogels, today announced a collaboration to launch PODS®-PeptiGels®. The new kit combines the benefits of two existing innovative cell culture technologies—synthetic peptide hydrogels (PeptiGels) and a range of sustained release growth factors (PODS)—to provide a reproducible and highly adaptable environment for 3D cell culture.

PODS-PeptiGels incorporates Cell Guidance Systems’ POlyhedrin Delivery System (PODS) and Manchester BioGel’s biologically relevant hydrogels (PeptiGels). The ready-to-use kit allows researchers to mix and match to suit the aims of their research by selecting from more than 70 growth factors and combining with hundreds of combinations of hydrogels, each with mechanical and biomimetic tuneability.

Providing researchers with an all-in-one, animal free, solution for 3D cell culture applications, the PeptiGel hydrogel, available in a variety of gel stiffness and cell adhesion motifs, is produced using synthetic peptides reducing batch variations and enables reproducible results. The PODS crystal protects the growth factor cargo allowing sustained release over a longer period, thereby reducing the frequency of media changes required and minimizing growth factor concentration cycles.

Dr. Michael Jones, CEO of Cell Guidance Systems, commented: “We are excited to launch PODS-PeptiGels with Manchester BIOGEL. Combining the benefits of PeptiGel and PODS technologies provides researchers with a simple and repeatable, physiologically relevant, cell matrix that produces consistent results in addition to reducing hands-on time.”

Dr. Donald Daley, CEO of Manchester BIOGEL, said: “Batch-to-batch variation of hydrogels is a big issue and our synthetic PeptiGels overcome this by eliminating variation making it easier to compare results. PeptiGels are functionalized synthetic platforms that support cell growth and are also free from animal origin. This combined with recombinant growth factors that do not degrade quickly due to the PODS technology from Cell Guidance Systems, makes for a powerful 3D cell culture solution that can be scaled up to high throughput, if required, whilst producing consistent and accurate results.”