• AimGel Human NK Cell Activator

    Human NK cell activation with cell-sized hydrogel microparticles

    AimGel Human NK Cell Activator

    AimGel Human NK Cell Activator

    $380.00
    ANK01-0050H | Research Use Only

    AimGel Human NK Cell Activator presents NK activating signals on soft hydrogel microparticles built to the size of a real NK cell (7-12 µm). The fluid lipid membrane lets those signals move freely across the surface, the way they do on a natural antigen-presenting cell. Activation is gentle and effective. Feeder-free, chemically defined, with no animal components.

    1 vial, 0.5 mL in PBS at 4 × 10⁷ microparticles/mL
    Quantity
    Coming soon

  • Easy, biocompatible and feeder-free

    A synthetic feeder cell

    The soft hydrogel core matches the mechanical stiffness and size of a real cell, while a mobile lipid bilayer lets activation signals travel across the surface just as they would on a natural APC.

    Compatible with existing NK media

    AimGel isn't a replacement for your media, it goes with it. Added to popular NK media, AimGel consistently produced more cells, reaching >800-fold by day 14.

    Keeps going through re-stimulation

    Re-stimulate at day 14 and AimGel-activated NK cells expand a further ~120-fold over the next two weeks.

    Feeder-free and fully defined

    No feeder cells, no animal components. AimGel is 100% synthetically with fully defined structures and ratios.

  • Product Details

    Specifications

    A suspension of AimGel hydrogel microparticles made of chemically crosslinked dextran. Microparticles sized 7-12 µm, coated with a phospholipid bilayer, with human NK cell activating signal panels docked to the membrane.

    Inside the kit

    • 1 vial of AimGel Human NK Cell Activator in PBS at 4 × 10⁷ microparticles/mL, with 0.5% P/S
    • 1 vial of lysis buffer (100×), dextranase in PBS

    Storage & stability

    • Ships on ice
    • Do not freeze, keep refrigerated at 2–8 °C, stable for 12 months.
    • Contents are sterile when unopened

    You will also need

    • Cryopreserved/freshly isolated NK cells
    • RPMI 1640 supplemented with 2 mM L-glutamine, or equivalent
    • Heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS)
    • Penicillin/streptomycin
    • 2-Mercaptoethanol
    • 25 mM HEPES and 1× non-essential amino acids
    • Recombinant human IL-2
    • For priming cryopreserved NK cells only: IL-21, IL-15 or IL-18
    • Cell culture vessels, humidified CO₂ incubator or bioreactor

    Documents

  • Data

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    Compatibility with existing media

    Isolated NK cells expanded in two commercial NK media (Brand T & Brand M), with and without AimGel, and with a commercial magnetic bead kit (Brand M). Adding AimGel raised expansion roughly three-fold over medium alone at both timepoints, and outperformed the magnetic bead kit. Mean ± SD, n=4. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001.

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    Activation and re-stimulation

    NK cells activated with AimGel in a commercial NK medium (Brand T), re-stimulated at day 14, and followed for a further two weeks. AimGel-activated cells continued expanding after re-stimulation; cells in medium alone peaked and then declined.

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    Cytotoxic effects

    Cytotoxic activity of expanded NK cells against K562 target cells at effector-to-target ratios of 2:1 and 4:1. AimGel-expanded cells lysed targets as effectively as cells grown in medium alone, despite the substantially larger population.

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    Degradation toxicity

    AimGel microparticles, as well as the degradation products showed excellent biocompatibility and minimum cytotoxicity at working dosage, regardless of the degradation method: enzymatic (user-triggered via lysis buffer) or hydrolysis (available upon request). 10% DMSO used as control for killing the NK cells.

  • FAQs

  • Order Now

    Purchase through our distributors, or our webstore if no distributor is serving your region.

    LAB-A-PORTER logo, distributor for Hong Kong

    LAB-A-PORTER

    Hong Kong

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    Lab Panda

    Hong Kong

    Allegrow Webstore

    Other regions

  • Other Activators in the AimGel lineup

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    Mouse T Cell Activator

    Activate mouse T cells with AimGel artificial cells, straight from PBMC.

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    Dog T Cell Activator

    Activate dog T cells with AimGel artificial cells, straight from PBMC.

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    Aim-Core

    Blank artificial cells for custom applications. Dock your own biotinylated signals.

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