GrowDex Hydrogels
Animal-free and ready-to-use hydrogels for 3D cell culture
We offer a range of products for scalable animal-free 3D cell culture applications, providing convenience and consistent results. GrowDex® hydrogels are natural nanofibers of cellulose extracted from wood and sourced from sustainable and responsibly managed forests. Supplied as ready-to-use, prepacked syringes, GrowDex mimics the extracellular matrix and supports cell growth and differentiation. These animal-free matrices are a proven solution for automation and high throughput screening. They can be used for 3D cell culture for spheroids and organoids, in personalised medicine, regenerative medicine, organ-on-a-chip models, drug release studies and more.
Cells can be recovered from GrowDex for downstream processing, with a one-step enzymatic process using our GrowDase™.
Benefits of GrowDex hydrogels:
- Animal-free: No animal biomolecules interfering with readouts.
- Reproducible: Comprising nanofibrillar cellulose and purified water only, GrowDex hydrogels are manufactured to the highest standards with strict quality control criteria to ensure lot-to-lot reproducibility.
- Reliable: Robust and sustained performance regardless of the production lot ordered.
- Stable: Used and stored at room temperature, GrowDex hydrogels can be used in liquid handling systems.
- Ready-to-use: Simplified protocol in which GrowDex hydrogels are mixed with media and cells.
- Tunable: Optimal gel stiffness is achieved by dilution with cell culture media. Matrix composition can be optimized easily by supplementing cell culture media with specific biomolecules such as growth factors.
- Compatible with high-content screening systems: No auto-fluorescence and transparency.
- Compatible with liquid handling workstations: The unique shear-thinning properties of GrowDex enable automated dispensing (such as with JANUS® G3 workstation) for high-throughput applications.
Why choose animal-free hydrogels for cell culture?
Despite being widely used, animal derived matrices are often poorly defined, contain contaminating molecules (RNA/DNA), suffer from lot-to-lot variability, and can be difficult to use. With animal free hydrogels, like GrowDex, you can benefit from:
- Reproducible assays with no lot-to-lot variation
- Temperature stability allowing room temperature handling
- Defined composition without unknown protein composition
For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.
GrowDex
The original animal-free 3D hydrogel for cell culture, used in a wide range of cell-based assays. It has been validated on various cell models and applications.
The original animal-free 3D hydrogel for cell culture, used in a wide range of cell-based assays. It has been validated on various cell models and applications.
GrowDex-T
- Transparent hydrogel that has been specifically developed to offer superior imaging properties, without compromising any of the advantages of the original GrowDex hydrogel for 3D cell culture.
- Ideal for use in brightfield, phase contrast and confocal microscopy applications as well as high content imaging.
- Transparent hydrogel that has been specifically developed to offer superior imaging properties, without compromising any of the advantages of the original GrowDex hydrogel for 3D cell culture.
- Ideal for use in brightfield, phase contrast and confocal microscopy applications as well as high content imaging.
GrowDex-A
- Customizable transparent hydrogel, modified by the addition of an avidin group, that can be used to bind different biotinylated molecules.
- Prescence of biotinylated molecules may enhance cell culture conditions for specific 3D applications.
- Customizable transparent hydrogel, modified by the addition of an avidin group, that can be used to bind different biotinylated molecules.
- Prescence of biotinylated molecules may enhance cell culture conditions for specific 3D applications.
GrowDase
Cellulase enzyme that breaks down GrowDex hydrogel to form a solution in an easy one-step efficient cell recovery process, with no impact on cell viability or functionality.
Cellulase enzyme that breaks down GrowDex hydrogel to form a solution in an easy one-step efficient cell recovery process, with no impact on cell viability or functionality.
