Robust & Reliable Stem Cell Viability Testing

Experts in stem cell storage, Cells4Life Ltd (Brighton, UK) has, using a Personal Cellular Analysis (PCA) system from Guava Technologies Inc., established a robust and reliable testing protocol for all umbilical cord blood samples upon arrival at its laboratory before freezing. Using the Guava PCA system, Cells4Life is able to ensure that only samples containing a high percentage of viable (living) cells are cryopreserved for storage.

Founded in 2002, Cells4Life is a leading UK private cord blood banking company set up to provide whole umbilical cord blood storage rather than extracting just the stem cells. Storing whole blood avoids possible damage to cells caused by the separation process, retains growth factors and hormones not present in stem cells and produces better engraftment than pure stem cells in certain diseases. The Cells4Life service involves collection of umbilical cord blood at the time of birth and testing of the mother's blood 30 days before and seven days after delivery for disease biomarkers, in accordance with UK Department of Health guidelines. The umbilical cord blood is processed, cell viability checked and then frozen in liquid nitrogen for an initial period of 25 years. Driven by the future likely importance of stem cells in a wide range of new therapeutic strategies - stem cell depositors at Cells4Life are growing at a rate of 100% per annum.

Jeff Drew, Chief Scientist at Cells4Life said, "Without the Guava PCA system, counting of nucleated cells would be a manual process, which would be very costly in labour terms and also prone to personnel variances". He added "The Guava PCA system has increased the speed and reliability of our in-house viability testing and it also usefully provides a hard copy report in a format easily understood by non-technical staff and customers".

The ultra-compact size and ease of use makes the Guava PCA system indispensable to all scientists who need immediate access to fast and simple cell monitoring and screening assays. Intuitive in operation, the Guava PCA provides precise, accurate and easy-to-read results with often less than one day of training. Increased cell counting accuracy on the Guava PCA translates into more accurate evaluation of percentage viable stem cells in samples prior to cryopreservation. Benefiting from a patented self-aligning, user-replaceable microcapillary flow cell - assays on the Guava PCA need less cells (< 20 µl), less reagents and generate minimal waste. All these advantages and a proprietary viability protocol combine to allow the Guava PCA to undertake rapid, robust and reliable stem cell viability testing with unmatched reproducibility and precision.

Guava Technologies, Inc., is the leading provider of on-demand, easy-to-use single cell analysis systems. Guava Personal Cell Analysis (PCA™) systems, including the Guava PCA, Guava PCA-96, Guava EasyCyte™, Guava EasyCyte Plus and EasyCyte Mini systems, are integrated, fully optimised, microcapillary cytometry systems with embedded absolute cell counting capability. Used worldwide by the life sciences, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries, as well as clinical testing institutions (outside the United States and Europe), Guava's products have broad applications in scientific research and throughout the drug discovery and lead optimisation process, as well as for cell counting and optimisation of commercial biopharmaceutical production. Guava offers a variety of assays and dedicated software modules for the Guava PCA systems, enhancing the system's overall ease-of-use.