CyGEL™
...a liquid when cooled and a gel when warmed...
What is it?
CyGEL™ is a novel thermoreversible gel that is compatible with LIVE cells. It can be used to immobilise non-adherent cells and beads by simple warming, and conversely allowing their recovery by simple cooling. CyGEL™ is unusual in that it is a liquid when cold and a gel when warmed!
CyGEL™ is recommended for:
- mounting LIVE de-adhered / non-adherent cells for microscopy (Upton et al, 2007)
- mounting LIVE C. elegans* and parasites (e.g. leishmania, trypanosomes) which can be recovered thereafter (Price, Maclean, et al. 2009)
- immobilization of LIVE Danio rerio** for micro-injections / microsurgery (Alvarez et al, 2009)
- mounting FIXED Danio rerio (zebrafish) embryos** and other fixed tissues.
What are the key benefits?
CyGEL™ has many applications in imaging, flow cytometry and cell-based screening. It is compatible with LIVE cells, usefully allowing their immobilisation for analysis and subsequent release for ongoing experimentation.
Key benefits include:-
- optically clear with low autofluorescence
- controllable and rapid transition from liquid to gel
- convenient immobilisation of non-adherent cells and beads
- compatible with GFP and "in gel" fluorescent probes including DRAQ5™
Advantages:
- allows rapid preparation of cells for gel mounting
- permits long term analysis of non-adherent cells
- acts as a support matrix
- permits sterile, low temperature recovery of cells from gel
- multiple assay formats and applications including apoptosis detection
Where can I buy CyGEL™?
CyGEL™ can be purchased from this website. See our purchase pages for full details.
NOTES:
* For LIVE C. elegans the supplied 40X PBS can be replaced with 40X M9 buffer.
** For LIVE Danio rerio (zebrafish) imaging we recommend CyGEL Sustain.
Links to further information
- Features and Benefits
- Live Parasite Imaging
- Fixed zebrafish embryo imaging
- Live C elegans Imaging
- easy mounting of cells
- key references
- immobilisation in practice
- protocols
- long-term imaging LIVE non-adhered cells
- controlled delivery of fluorochromes
- DRAQ5 fluorescence in CyGEL
- cells in DRAQ5/CyGEL
- apoptosing cells in PI/CyGEL
- temperature and viscosity
- refractive index and temperature
- Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
- Email: enquiry@biostatus.com
- Telephone: +44 1509 558163
- Fax: +44 1509 651061