Cell Dissociation Reagents

In order to replicate their native environments, adherent cell phenotypes (such as epithelial cells) are typically seeded onto tissue culture-treated surfaces, to which they attach in order to survive and proliferate. For propagation, enumeration, and downstream analysis, adherent cells and cells from solid tissues must be dissociated to create suspensions. Single-cell suspensions are required for cell counting, reseeding for subculture, and cellular assays/analysis.

Trypsin, Recombinant Trypsin, StableCell™ Trypsin

Trypsin is a serine protease and one of the most common detachment enzymes used with adherent cell lines and for tissue dissociation. Crude trypsin preparations have typically been found to be more efficient for both applications, but incubating cells with a high trypsin concentration or for too long risks damage to cell membranes and can kill the cells. Cultured cells are most commonly removed from the culture substrate by treatment with trypsin in combination with EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), in which the concentration of trypsin can range from 0.025% to 0.5%.

StableCell™ Trypsin solutions were developed to perform cell detachment as standard trypsin solutions do, without the need to aliquot, freeze, and thaw the trypsin. This saves significant time by eliminating the need to aliquot and wait for trypsin to thaw for cell passaging or experiments and frees precious space in lab freezers. Our StableCell™ Trypsin solutions are recommended for storage at 2-8 °C, but our studies indicate that StableCell™ Trypsin retains >90% activity and performance even when stored at 37 °C.