Request documentation

Research tool FAQs

Can I contribute or access research tools that contain CRISPR-CAS9 technology?

Contribute: If you have developed modified cell lines using CRISPR-Cas9 please get in touch.

Access: Cancer Research Technology Limited (trading research tools as CancerTools) has been granted a non-exclusive license to the CRISPR-Cas9 technology by ERS Genomics Ltd under the patent rights listed below. This license from ERS Genomics Ltd allows CancerTools to develop and commercialise CRISPR-Cas9 modified cell lines for research use only. CancerTools can provide these modified CRISPR-Cas9 cell lines to companies under a label-use only license.

ERS Genomics Ltd holds an exclusive worldwide license from Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier to the foundational intellectual property covering CRISPR-Cas9 for all applications other than use as a human therapeutic. The patent rights belonging to ERS Genomics Ltd are listed below. These patent applications have broad and dominant claims covering CRISPR-Cas9 compositions and methods of genome editing in any organism.

Click to view ERS Genomics Ltd Granted Patents

Antibodies

How are the monoclonal antibodies produced?

By in vitro production methods; we do not produce in ascites fluid.

How are the monoclonal antibodies purified?

IgG by Protein A (murine) or Protein G (rat) affinity chromatography, which typically give a > 95% degree of purity. IgM is purified using a thiophilic chromatographic method.

How are monoclonal antibodies supplied?

Monoclonal antibodies are supplied as 0.11 mL aliquots (to include overage) at a concentration of either 1.0mg/mL or 2.0mg/mL ±0.1mg/mL, in Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) containing 0.02% sodium azide as preservative.

CAUTION: Sodium azide is toxic if ingested and due care should be exercised.

Can monoclonal antibodies be supplied in other formulations such as, “bulk” size or without sodium azide?

If you do have individual requirements, we are more than happy to discuss them so please do not hesitate to contact us.

Cell lines

What is the difference between primary and secondary cell culture?

A primary cell culture refers to cells that have been removed from a live donor/specimen and have been established in an in vitro environment.

Secondary cell culture refers to cell lines that have been immortalized, usually by overexpressing an enzyme called human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), and can divide indefinitely. Many tissue types are not amenable to immortalisation, so primary cell culture may be the only option in some circumstances.

Both primary and secondary cell cultures have advantages and disadvantages:

1. Using primary cell cultures will provide biological results in specific cells of interest, that are more accurate to those seen in the host tissue. However, there will be a finite number of cells with a finite lifespan for you to use.
2. In contrast, secondary cell cultures will be easier to maintain and have a more uniform and long-lasting cell population, but as the cultures have grown and been passaged in artificial cell culture media, they will provide biological responses different from cells within the original host tissue. Additionally, these cells may have genetic drift, changes or mutations acquired during repeated passaging and culture maintenance.

To overcome some of the limitations of secondary cell cultures, some researchers prefer to use human plasma-like cell culture media such as Plasmax^TM, rather than standard media.

Can I use cell lines obtained from colleagues?

Although it can be tempting to source cell lines from colleagues they may inadvertently supply you with contaminated or misidentified cell lines. If they can provide you with confirmation that the cells are mycoplasma free and the DNA profile has been confirmed to be as expected you can have more confidence. If not, is it worth taking the risk?

Mouse models

How does CancerTools make mice available to the researcher community?

CancerTools understands the vital role mice play in cancer research and wants to share mice as widely as possibly, whilst also ensuring good research practices are supported and the associated intellectual property is protected. To that end you can access and transfer mice through CancerTools in several different ways (please see the accessing a mouse FAQ for more details).

Accessing a mouse

Accessing a mouse:	Process:
Through our collection where the mouse is located at your institute	CancerTools will issue an MTA for your use of the mouse
From our collection through your contact at another institute	CancerTools will NOT issue an MTA, in accordance with global standards on reducing genetic drift and reproducibility. CancerTools will provide you access to this mouse through the inventor or through its existing collaborations with globally renowned mouse houses.
Through our collection, but you have no source of the physical material at your own institute	CancerTools will issue an MTA for your use of the mouse. CancerTools will provide you access to this mouse through the inventor or through its existing collaborations with globally renowned mouse houses.

Transferring a mouse

Transferring a mouse:	Process:
Where you have generated a derivative or crossbreed of one of the mice in CancerTools’ collection	To support out mission CancerTools makes this derivative available to other researchers, so will work with you to create a product page within its collection. CancerTools will provide you with a permission letter for the transfer of the mouse.
Where you have an ongoing collaboration with a researcher at another institute and the mouse needs to be transferred for consistency in experimental conditions	As long as you are willing to legally attest to this circumstance, CancerTools will provide you with a permission letter and your colleague with an MTA for the transfer of the mouse.

PDX models

How are PDX models generated?

PDX models are created by implanting human tumour tissue into immunodeficient mice.

What are the key advantages of using PDX models?

PDX models are superior in recapitulating patient tumour characteristics including spatial structure, intratumour heterogeneity, genomic features, tumour growth rates, metastatic patterns and drug responses. These highly translatable preclinical models can be used to more accurately predict therapeutic efficacy and de-risk preclinical in vivo drug validation.

How have the breast cancer PDX models, deposited by Professor Alana Welm (University of Utah) been established?

Fresh or thawed human breast tumour fragments were implanted into the cleared inguinal mammary fat pad of female immunocompromised mice [NOD scid gamma (NSG) Jackson Laboratory 5557; NOD/scid, Jackson Laboratory 1303 or NOD rag gamma (NRG), Jackson Laboratory 7799].

For liquid specimens, pleural effusion, or ascites fluid, 1-2 milion cells were injected into cleared mammary fat pads in Matrigel.

For estrogen receptor positive (ER+) tumours, mice were dosed with E2 beeswax pellets and given supplemental E2 via drinking water. When tumours reached 1-2 cm in diameter, tumours were aseptically collected and re-implanted into new mice or banked. Estrogen-independent ER+ breast PDX models were generated when ER+ PDX tumours were implanted into ovariectomised mice without E2 supplementation.

Additional Information on PDX establishment can be found here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43018-022-00337-6/figures/9

What are CancerTools.org providing as breast cancer PDX products?

We are providing vials containing early passage (P3-P9) cryopreserved PDX tumour tissue fragments, including those from the most advanced and lethal forms of breast cancer, such as aggressive, metastatic and treatment–resistant subtypes. Each vial contains 5 good fragments, and we recommend implanting 1 fragment into 1 mouse.

Can you provide any quality control data such as STR profiling and pathogen testing for these models?

We can provide STR profiling and human and mouse pathogen testing data upon request.

How have the TRACERx NSCLC PDX models, deposited by Dr Robert Hynds and Dr David Pearce (UCL Cancer Institute) been established?

This collection of NSCLC PDX models were derived from multiple regions of primary NSCLC tumours from patients enrolled in the Lung TRACERx study.

Primary NSCLC tumour material was minced and injected subcutaneously in the flank of immunodeficient male NOD scid gamma (NSG) mice in growth factor-reduced matrigel. To prepare frozen tumour samples for injection, the sample cryovial was warmed in a 37°C water bath until just thawed. The whole sample was then transferred into a sterile 1.5 ml centrifuge tube and topped up with transport medium. The sample was centrifuged at 300 x g for 5 minutes and the supernatant was removed. The sample was then washed with transport medium. If required, any large pieces of tissue were collected and finely minced with a scalpel to ensure they could pass through a 16G needle. The sample was then centrifuged again, gently resuspended in ice-cold Matrigel, and kept on ice before subcutaneous injection. When tumours reached 1.5 cm3 in volume (calculated as 0.5 x length x width2), tumours were aseptically collected and reimplanted into new mice or cryopreserved.

What are CancerTools.org providing as TRACERx NSCLC PDX products?

We are providing vials containing early passage (P1-P4) cryopreserved minced PDX tissue. Each vial contains sufficient PDX tumour tissue to inject into one mouse for local expansion and banking.

Can you provide any quality control data such as STR profiling and pathogen testing for these models?

We provide a Product Information Sheet for each model, on the respective product page, showing clonal mutations and representative histology images. Pathogen testing records of mouse colonies used to generate these models are available upon request. STR profiling has not been routinely performed on these models, however, mutation data is available from:

Hynds R.E. et al., Nature Communications 15, 4653 (2024). PMID: 38821942

Plasmax^TM

What is Plasmax?

Plasmax^TM is a cell culture medium that closely mimics the metabolic and physiological profile of human plasma. It is a chemically defined and ready-to-use medium, painstakingly developed to give the best possible representation of in vivo conditions.

Why was Plasmax developed?

Dr. Tardito, an oncometabolism researcher at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, observed that growth focussed media can have a range of effects on cellular metabolism that is cell-type and condition specific (e.g. normoxia/ hypoxia). This effects the experimental results obtained. Dr. Tardito sought to develop a human plasma like cell culture medium that represents the in vivo  cellular environment by providing a physiological complement of nutrients provided by human plasma - Plasmax^TM.   Find out more about Plasmax^TM

How does Plasmax differ from DMEM/ F12/ RPMI?

Growth focussed media lack a number of key components that are present in human plasma like media such as Plasmax^TM . Plasmax^TM contains over 80 components, of which 50 have been optimised to the levels found within human plasma, providing a more comprehensive and physiologically relevant nutritional profile.

Can Plasmax be used like a growth focussed media (e.g. DMEM)?

Yes, Plasmax^TM is ready-to-use and is designed to be used as a direct replacement for conventional media. Cell viability has been tested in various cell types with 2.5% Foetal Bovine Serum.

How does Plasmax affect the metabolic profile of your cultured cells?

Unlike growth-focussed media, Plasmax^TM is designed to mimic the nutrient profile of human plasma, better reflecting the cancer microenvironment and providing more physiologically accurate experimental results. Growing cells in Plasmax^TM results in a metabolite profile that is statistically similar to in vivo tumours.

What is the role of trace elements in Plasmax?

Plasmax^TM is the only ready-to-use cell culture medium containing growth enhancing components at physiological levels as well as essential trace elements. These trace elements are essential as they:

• increase the antioxidant capacity of cells, preventing ferroptosis-induced cell death.
• sustain cell growth even in serum free conditions.
• encourage faster cell culture proliferation in comparison with DMEM when both are supplemented with 2.5% foetal bovine serum.

Which cells can Plasmax be used to culture?

Plasmax^TM has been used to successfully culture a number of cell lines including:

Cell type	Tissue of origin	Cells status	Species
HepG2	Liver cancer	Established line	Human
HuH7	Liver cancer	Established line	Human
HuH6	Liver cancer	Established line	Human
BT549	Breast cancer	Established line	Human
MDA-MB-468	Breast cancer	Established line	Human
Cal120	Breast cancer	Established line	Human
A375	Melanoma	Established line	Human
Colo829	Melanoma	Established line	Human
LN18	Brain cancer	Established line	Human
Naive glioblastoma cells	Brain cancer	Low passage lines	Human
Dermal Fibroblasts	Epidermis	Primary	Human
Small intestin organoid	Small intestine	Primary	Mouse
Mammosphers	Mammary gland	Primary	Mouse
Mesenchimal stromal cells	Bone marrow	Primary	Human
Embryonic stem cells	Embryo	Primary	Human
Trophoblast stem cells	Placenta	Primary	Human

Since its composition reflects that of human plasma, it should be suitable for many other cell types.

If you have specific cells you wish to use Plasmax^TM on, or would like further details on the cell lines mentioned above, we are happy to answer your question in more detail. Please contact us.

Can Plasmax be supplemented with antibiotics?

Plasmax^TM can be supplemented with antibiotics. The inventors have supplemented Plasmax with penicillin-streptomycin to grow primary cells without issues. They do not have direct experience with Primocin (proprietary components) but do not anticipate any problem by supplementing it to Plasmax.

Can I use Plasmax alone or is it good to add FBS?

Plasmax^TM does not contain any proteins, growth factors or lipid therefore FBS should be added at the concentration you consider most appropriate. The range is from 0% (+ growth factors and albumax) to 10% depending on the cell type and experiment. The use of dyalized FBS reduces the contribution of metabolites at unknown concentrations, minimizing the divergence from the original Plasmax formulation. We would recommend dialyzed FBS for the experiments where the concentration of specific nutrients is critical.

Get technical support