We get many orders and requests for donors who are HLA-A*0201 positive and CMV positive, and for good reason. Scientists know that the HLA-A*0201 allele is the most common allele found in the European/North American Caucasian population, expressed by about half of all individuals. But are there alternatives to HLA-A*0201 positive donors? And should you…
Customers often come to us looking for multiple cell types from the same donor, or for a new cell type from the same donor as another cell type they already purchased. We recently got two such requests: “Can I get NK cells, monocytes and dendritic cells all from the same donor?” “I recently bought CD4+…
There are many ways that a drug or biologic therapy can impact the immune system, many of which aren’t discovered in the early stages of drug development. For example, chemotherapies that impede the development of hematopoietic cells can leave cancer patients anemic and prone to infection. So how can you identify the negative immune system…
Influenza season is just around the corner. With many Americans expected to seek out the flu vaccination starting in September and October, customers will soon be asking if our donors have received the flu shot or are infected with the flu. We always gather as much information about our donors as possible, and influenza vaccination…
Despite being central to adaptive immunity and transplantation, the genetic locus that encodes Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) can be confusing to scientists who don’t specialize in it. HLA Background The molecules that belong to the HLA system were first defined using antibodies: the class I antigens (A, B and C) and the class II antigen…
Studying the Certificate of Analysis is a fundamental step to ensuring the immune cell products you purchase are going to be viable, pure, or match the specifications required for your experiment. Let’s face it: even the best purification methods sometimes fail. As a researcher, you need to educate yourself on the purity of the cells…