Lonza Extends Industry-Standard Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC) Product Line

Lonza, the market leader in primary cells, has expanded its human primary cell portfolio with an improved version of Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC) cultured in the absence of additive vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). To support these cells, Lonza has developed the new EGM™-Plus Growth Media Kit.

HUVECs cultured in EGM™-Plus Media are an improved version of Lonza’s long-standing seller HUVECs cultured in EGM™ Media. Cells in EGM™-Plus Media offer better proliferation rates in the absence of additive VEGF while maintaining the same high-quality characterization as HUVECs in EGM™ Media.

This recent addition to the portfolio offers better solutions to customers in application areas such as cardiovascular diseases, angiogenesis studies, cancer research and wound healing. VEGF is involved in creation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis). Overexpression of this gene has been linked to solid tumor progression and retinal vascular diseases. HUVECs cultured without VEGF offer extended options to researchers, who can use them to understand the implications of the presence and absence of VEGF.

“Our Clonetics™ HUVECs product line is widely used in disease research due to its consistent quality. Recently, our customers have requested faster cell proliferation rates with an endothelial medium that contains little to no VEGF. EGM™-Plus Growth Media does just that for our customers, who rely on Lonza for their vascular research cell culture needs,” Lubna Hussain, Senior Product Manager for Bioscience Research Solutions, said.

Lonza currently offers more than 30 different varieties of primary human endothelial cells, including cells from normal, diabetic type I and II donors. These cells come from tissue sources ranging from heart, lung and skin to reproductive organs.