3-D Life Biomimetic Hydrogels: Cell Environment Design at Your Fingertips
3-D Life Technology
The 3-D Life technology is an integrated system for the generation of biomimetic hydrogels used in 3D cell culture. The 3-D Life system consists of two polymers that form a hydrogel by covalent crosslinking at ambient temperature. The chemical reaction is non-toxic to cells and occurs rapidly, preventing cell settlement before the gel is formed.
Features
- Defined composition of biologically inert synthetic polymers and biopolymers
- User-controlled biomimetic modifications (e.g. peptides, proteins)
- Robust gel formation and handling
- Wide range of ligand density (up to 5 mmol/l)
- Tunable gel stiffness
- Protease-free dissolution of gels for easy cell recovery
Choices
- PVA or Dextran Polymer: PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) is a biochemically stable polymer providing long lasting hydrogel stability for long-term cell cultures. Dextran hydrogels can be dissolved by Dextranase (see Accessories) for a protease-free cell recovery.
- CD, PEG, or HA Crosslinker: Choose between a cell-degradable (CD) crosslinker, a non-degradable (PEG) crosslinker, or hyaluronic acid (HA) crosslinker.
- Fast or Slow Gelling: Choose between fast gelling (FG) and slow gelling (SG) hydrogels to adapt the set-up of hydrogels to your experimental requirements.
Product Line
The 3-D Life product line represents the most flexible system for biomimetic hydrogel design, from pre-configured gels to single components for individual gel compositions.
Ready-To-Go Hydrogel KitsReady-To-Go hydrogels are preconfigured in their composition. They contain defined biomimetic functions and are designed for ease of use.
Ready-To-Design Hydrogel Kits
These Kits provide the highest flexibility in designing biomimetic hydrogels: hydrogel stiffness, attachment of adhesion peptides, matrix metalloprotease degradability, protease-free gel dissolution for cell recovery can all be chosen independently from one another.
- PVA Hydrogel Kits: PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) is a biochemically stable polymer providing long lasting hydrogel stability for long-term cell cultures.
- Dextran Hydrogel Kits: Dextran Hydrogel Kits contain thiol-reactive dextran. Dextran hydrogels can be dissolved by 3-D Life Dextranase for a protease-free cell recovery when crosslinked with PEG-Link or CD-Link. Dextran hydrogels crosslinked with HyLink (Dextran-HA Hydrogel Kit) cannot be dissolved by 3-D Life Dextranase.
- Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Kits: Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Kits contain thiol-modified hyaluronic acid (HA) as a crosslinker.
Hydrogel Components
Thiol-reactive polymers and crosslinkers are available as single reagents for the most individualized applications or for the extension of Hydrogel Kits or the replenishment of components in used kits.
- Thioreactive Polymers: Thioreactive polymers are dextran or polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) modified with thioreactive groups along the backbone. They can be covalently crosslinked to form hydrogels.
- Crosslinkers: Crosslinkers are thiol-modified polymers that can be used to crosslink thioreactive polymers to form hydrogels.
3-D Life Peptides contain cell adhesion motifs of extracellular matrix proteins for the biomimetic modification of hydrogels to introduce specific cell adhesion functionality.
Accessories
This product category includes reagents that complement the Ready-to-design Hydrogel Kits, such as dextranase, thioglycerol, and buffers.
Resources
- 3-D Life Hydrogel User Guide
- 3-D Life Hydrogels User Applications
- 3-D Life Hydrogels Product References
- Overview of Hydrogel Matrix Stiffness
- 3-D Life Hydrogel Selection Guide
Ilex Life Sciences LLC is an authorized distributor of Cellendes GmbH products.