Frequently Asked Questions

GENERAL INFORMATION

You can request a quote by clicking here.

Orders processed before noon EST Monday-Wednesday will ship the same day; orders processed after noon will ship the following day. Delivery usually takes one day so orders can be processed Thursday and Friday only upon a customer’s request. 

Yes, we are happy to reserve any specific lot or vial amount for up to two weeks.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

AccuCell® cellular products are derived from humans and include healthy and disease-state PBMCs, PBMC subsets, and CBMNCs. AccuCell® is a registered trademark owned by Precision for Medicine.

Your order will come with the lot Certificate of Analysis (COA) which details the characterization and demographic information, as well as the product insert which outlines the thawing procedure.

VIDEO: Thawing Cryopreserved PBMCs for Cell Recovery and Viability

The thawing procedure is included in the product insert that comes with your order.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THAWING AND CULTURE

  1. Use a dry ice tub to transfer vials to the lab, making sure to keep the vials submerged in the dry ice to keep them cold.
  2. Hold the frozen vial in water in a 37 ± 3°C water bath. Do not thaw more than 4 vials at a time.
  3. GENTLY shake the vial in the water until just before the last ice crystal has melted.
  4. Check to make sure the cap is secure. It is possible that the cap may loosen slightly with the temperature change between the ice and the water bath.
  5. Just before the last ice crystals have melted, remove the vial from the water bath.
  6. Wipe the vial with a sterile alcohol pad, focusing on the cap area.
  7. Unscrew the cap slowly as pressure may build inside tube on thaw.
  8. Add 1 mL of culture media that has been brought to 37 ± 3°C (warm) to the vial drop by drop over 30 seconds to allow the cells to adjust to the change in environment.
  9. Slowly add the cells to a 15 or 50 mL conical tube containing 9 mL of warm culture media.
  10. Rinse the original vial with 1 mL of the cell-containing media to recover cells that may have adhered to the sides; add the rinse media to the conical tube.
  11. Pellet the cells by centrifugation at 350 x g for 8-12 minutes.
  12. Discard the supernatant. Re-suspend the cell pellet by gently tapping (avoid excessive shear forces).
  13. Rinse the cells again by adding 10 mL of warm culture media to the conical tube.
  14. Pellet the cells by centrifugation at 350 x g for 8-12 minutes.
  15. Discard the supernatant from the second wash. Re-suspend the cell pellet by gently tapping (avoid excessive shear forces).
  16. Resuspend the cells in 5-10 mL of warm media as required.
  17. Count cells using laboratory specific procedures and proceed with laboratory protocols.
  18. For assays requiring PBMC growth, better results may be obtained if the cells are rested overnight before use.
  19. Place the cells in a 50 mL tube, no more than 10 mL per tube.
  20. Slightly loosen the cap and place the tubes in a 37°C incubator overnight with the appropriate CO2 concentration.

VIDEO: Thawing your cryopreserved PBMCs for greater viability

The thawing procedure is included in the product insert that comes with your order.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THAWING AND CULTURE

  1. Transfer frozen vials to your lab on dry ice to keep them cold. We recommend only thawing 4 vials at a time.
  2. Warm the medium for cell dilution to 37°C ± 3°.
  3. Hold vials in a water bath that is also 37°C ± 3°, being careful not to immerse the vial below the level of the cap.
  4. Watch your vials carefully, and just before the last ice crystal has melted, remove the vial from the water and wipe the vial with a sterile alcohol pad, focusing on the cap area.
  5. Gently pour the PBMCs from the cryo-vial into a pre-labeled 50 mL tube (or 15 mL if you have a small cell aliquot).
  6. Drop by drop, add 8 mL of warmed medium to the tube, gently swirling the tube as you go, to mix the cells with the medium. This allows the cells to adjust to the change in environment.
  7. Rinse the original vial with 1 mL of warm culture medium and add the rinse media to the new tube to make sure you recover all of the cells.
  8. Pellet the cells by centrifugation at 400xG for 10 minutes with rapid acceleration and brake on. If no pellet is observed, centrifuge again at 400xG for an additional 15 minutes.
  9. When you are finished, discard the supernatant.
  10. Add sufficient warmed medium to bring the cell volume back to 10 mL, then pellet the cells again by centrifugation at 400xG for 10 minutes, to make sure all the cryo-protective medium is removed
  11. Re-suspend the cells in the desired volume for counting using warm medium, mixing the cell solution carefully to make sure there’s no clumps
  12. Count the cells using your preferred laboratory-specific procedures. We recommend resting your cells overnight at 37°C ± 3°C before using them in cell-based assays, but it is not always necessary to do this and we are happy to advise.

It depends. For purity, flow, viability, and recovery assays you may use cells immediately. For assays requiring cell growth and metabolic activity (ELISpot, proliferation, ICS, etc.) you will receive better results by resting the cells for 18-24 hours in a 37°C incubator; this allows the cells to recover more fully from freezing and reduces the assay background.

SHIPPING INFORMATION

We will ship cells in dry ice priority overnight via FedEx or customer’s courier of choice. Dry ice is usually adequate for shipping within the continental U.S. LN2 dry shippers are preferable for most international shipments, and also can be used in the US if you prefer; please note that for dry shippers we charge for both the shipping and quality control on the shipper.

For delivery in the Washington, D.C. area we can use either our in-house courier if requested.

Yes, we can use your courier account for your order. Please just specify the courier details and account number on the PO.

You will receive a tracking number after your order has been shipped.