Kollodis BioSciences Announces Launch of MAPTrix HyGel™, Well Defined Hydrogel for 3D Cell Culture

PRLog (Press Release) - Jun 03, 2010 -
Kollodis BioSciences, Inc. has announced the launch of its novel MAPTrix HyGel™ line of products. MAPTrix HyGel™ is a chemically well-defined product based on Kollodis BioSciences' proprietary recombinant Mussel Adhesive Protein technology. MAPTrix HyGel™ is an in situ formable hydrogel product designed for 3D (three dimensional) cell culture and related applications.

The MAPTrixTM hydrogel products are composed of two components: MAPTrix™ ECM, a mussel adhesive protein based extracellular matrix (ECM) mimetic; and, MAPTrix™ Linker, a multi-arm polyethylene glycol derivative.

A key difference between MAPTrix™ based hydrogel products and currently available products is that the MAPTrix™ hydrogel products allow for the in situ formation of a “well-defined three dimensional environment”. MAPTrix™ hydrogel products generate well-defined 3D environments in terms of both biochemical composition; and, physical properties such as pore size and matrix elasticity of the hydrogel under physiological pH conditions. For example, a scientist can readily create a biochemically well-defined three dimensional ECM with use of either a single MAPTrix™ ECM product or a combination of MAPTrix™ ECM products. Kollodis currently provides several dozen different MAPTrix™ products in its MAPTrix™ ECM line of products.

Due to the extracellular matrix (ECM) derived peptide motifs recombinantly incorporated into Kollodis' mussel adhesive proteins (for example, the RGD structural motif in fibronectin), use of the MAPTrix™ ECM products can reduce or eliminate the serum requirement necessary for cell culture- as evidenced in primary hepatocyte or neural cell cultures conducted under serum free conditions. Depending upon the end-user's required extracellular protein (or more specifically, the peptide motif responsible for bioactivity), an appropriate MAPTrix™ ECM product can be selected to in situ create a three dimensional extracellular matrix environment suitable for their cell culture application.

Additionally, scientists can readily fine-tune or engineer the elasticity and/or pore size of the hydrogel by adjusting the concentration of MAPTrix™ ECM or MAPTrix™ Linker- particularly when they want to regulate a cell’s phenotype with such physical cues as the 3D matrix’s elasticity or pore size.

“We are absolutely delighted to commercialize our MAPTrix™ based hydrogel technology as a breakthrough solution addressing the unmet needs of a chemically defined environment for cell culture”, said Louis M. Scarmoutzos, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Kollodis BioSciences. “The efficacy of our MAPTrix™ technology for 3D cell culture was demonstrated in endothelial tube formation. Simply mixing MAPTrix™ ECM with MAPTrix™ Linker creates a 3D hydrogel matrix for tube formation within two hours”, he added.

Kollodis BioSciences, Inc.

Kollodis BioSciences, Inc. has successfully developed a proprietary recombinant protein expression system for the large scale production of various mussel adhesive proteins (MAP). Kollodis is dedicated to the development, manufacture, and sale of MAP-based smart biomaterials for biotech, medical and industrial applications. The Company's proprietary and patented MAPTrix™ platform technology recombinantly incorporates bioactive peptides into a mussel adhesive protein (MAP) for cell culture and related applications. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.kollodis.com.

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