Astrocytes have emerged as a key driver of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s Disease. We’ve therefore doubled down on our efforts to deliver high-quality iPSC-derived cells for neurodegenerative disease models. In keeping with this, we’re delighted to announce the launch of our new axoCells Astrocytes line for use in in vitro mono and co-culture models for research and drug discovery. Read more about the key highlights, applications and features of this new product in this short article.
The value of astrocytes for neurodegenerative disease modeling
Astrocytes are star-shaped glial cells that play crucial roles in the central nervous system (CNS), including neuronal support, regulation of neurotransmitter levels, maintenance of the blood-brain barrier, and modulation of synaptic activity1. Dysfunction of astrocytes has been implicated in various neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis1.
Human iPSC-derived astrocytes can be used to study neurodegenerative disease processes in vitro. Astrocytes are particularly useful when placed in co-culture with other neurons and neuroinflammatory cells to better mimic the complex interplay of cell types in the human brain.
NEW axoCells Astrocytes for research and drug discovery
With labs around the world increasingly moving to in vitro models, drug discovery researchers are embracing human iPSC-derived cells to build more human, more functional models for neuroscience.
But with many labs still using rat astrocytes for their work (with very long protocols, some even >100 days), we’re “supporting the switch” to human iPSCs with this new axoCells Astrocytes line (ax0704) that can drive faster, cheaper in vitro workflows.
Key highlights of our new axoCells Astrocytes product include:
- Best price on the market
- Derived from fibroblasts taken from a healthy 40-50-year-old male donor
- Assay ready in just 48 hours
- Express seven key markers of primary human astrocytes including GFAP, AQP4, S100B and astrocyte-associated markers EAAT1 and ALDH1L1, with low levels of neuronal progenitor markers including Nestin
- Specifically developed for use in powerful in vitro monoculture models and complex co-culture systems for research and drug discovery
Bolstered by our world-leading ISO 9001-accredited manufacturing processes, we are delighted to pass on further cost savings to you. Our new ax0704 axoCells Astrocytes are cheaper than previous astrocytes and are priced at just £660 / $830 / €770 per vial (1 million cells).
Click here to explore our new axoCells Astrocytes product: Human iPSC-Derived Astrocytes | ax0704 | Axol Bioscience
Our pledge to the global iPSC community
Our ax0665 astrocytes are moving to our ‘made-to-order’ program, and will be removed from our ‘ready-to-ship’ catalog. Under the made-to-order process, we can perform a custom differentiation run.
Why are we doing this? At the beginning of this year, we pledged to support the global adoption and advancement of iPSC technology by driving production up and costs down. As we scale up our processes, we have selected line CENSOi004E for large-scale manufacturing, from which we have launched our new astrocyte product, ax0704. This has enabled us to robustly scale up our production runs, meaning we can pass this cost saving to our customers.
If you have any questions, please contact us at operations@axolbio.com
