GrowDex Customer Testimonials

“We used GrowDex and GrowDex-T to establish HTS methodology for hepatocellular carcinoma organoids. Major advantages of the GrowDex-T for us were the ease of handling at room temperature using a Gyger Certus Flex, and the fact that it is an animal-free product. Our organoids showed the same morphology as well as treatment response when compared to the standard hydrogel HTS assay.”

Tijmen Booij and Lola Fäs – ETH Zürich - NEXUS Personalized Health Technologies

“GrowDex hydrogels can be dispensed using the Certus Flex enabling excellent accuracy and reproducibility. The unique shear-thinning properties and temperature stability of GrowDex hydrogels make them ideal for high throughput applications. As the matrix stiffness of your experimental setup is crucial to cell growth, the Certus Flex can dispense different concentrations of GrowDex resulting in different densities of the final scaffold. Depending on your procedures, GrowDex allows both consecutive addition of all components (media & GrowDex and then cells in an on top layer -all simultaneously) or dispensing as premixed homogenous suspension. GrowDex hydrogels are optimally dispensed using the Certus Flex” -Fritz Gyger AG

"Two-dimensional cell cultures in the study of extracellular vesicles (EVs) fail to mimic tissue physiology. However, EVs are not recoverable from commonly used 3D culture scaffolds, which also contain animal-derived contaminating particles. We utilize Growdex to establish a 3D cancer cell culture model that supports secretion of EVs, allows high resolution live imaging and easy isolation of EVs for further analysis."

Kirsi Rilla, Group leader, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Eastern Finland

“We tested using GrowDex as an alternative for animal derived extracellular matrices in cell based 3D high-throughput drug screening (HTS). The results demonstrated that GrowDex is compatible for use in large-scale 3D drug screens and supports long-term culture of primary patient derived tumor cell cultures.”

Juha K. Rantala, Ph.D., CEO, Principal Investigator at Misvik Biology

”We compared the differentiation of the GrowDex epithelial cells in parallel to animal collagen-coated transfers, and found that the cells differentiated much faster and had much better three-dimensional epithelial growth – the oldest cells in the cultures are now over 500 days old!”

Doris Wilflingseder, Assoc.-Prof., PhD, Institute for Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Innsbruck

” I noticed the GrowDex family of products during one of my visits of the vendor space of a conference. It turned out to be a wonderfully neutral ECM substrate, devoid of the vagaries of some of the growth-factor and ligand-rich products in common use. It made me realize how much of cellular behavior can be governed by ECM factors and that we should question even very commonly accepted cell culture protocols. With the ability to easily functionalize GrowDex, it could be a welcome alternative to probe the effects of ECM-bound proteins and their impact on cellular differentiation, locomotion, and survival. ”

Jan M. Bruder, PhD, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine

“We have been using GrowDex-T in transplanting stem cells to the inner allowing them to extend to neurites. GrowDex-T works well in our application, as the material is easy to handle, injectable and we can adjust the stiffness of the matrix to match our cell type. Another great thing about GrowDex-T is that it is compatible with other nanobiomaterials, such as PODS-delivery systems.”

Akihiro J. Matsuoka, M.D., DMSc, Ph.D., FACS, Director, Audiology, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

“Animal models present certain limitations when studying impact of chemicals on the placenta. I believe that this is where GrowDex can play a really big role since preliminary data from our laboratory suggest that when human placental cells growing on 3D, they become hormonally active and recreate a much more relevant endocrine milieu to humans.”

Dr Emmanouil Karteris, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Cellular Endocrinology
Brunel University London, Uxbridge, United Kingdom

“In our hands, GrowDex showed excellent batch-to-batch consistency and was easy to handle, especially since no cross-linking is required. In my opinion, a clear strength of GrowDex is that it has lower tendency than other hydrogels to produce air bubbles, which would negatively influence cell viability and result in heterogeneity of the gel.”

Dr Darius Widera, Associate Professor in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, ERASMUS and Study Abroad Coordinator, University of Reading, School of Pharmacy

“GrowDex is a very potential 3D matrix because it is inert and fibre-like, and doesn’t exhibit mouse biology or contain mouse growth factors. This means that you can add human growth factors and build a human tissue-like infrastructure.”

Tuula Heinonen, Tampereen Yliopisto

“GrowDex is easy to use and reproducibly manufactured, giving batch-to-batch consistency. Imaging is simple and GrowDex can be shipped at ambient temperature without degrading. It's a really great product.”

Phil Stephens, Professor of Cell Biology, Cardiff University Biobank academic lead, College of Biomedical & Life Sciences