Description
The Collagenase-Elastase blend is a tissue dissociation enzyme cocktail for cell isolation. The tissue dissociation process consists in the release of functional and viable cells from animal tissue, with minimal impact on the cell’s viability. The main reagent used for the tissue dissociation process is Collagenase. Collagenases are enzymes that break down the native collagen that holds animal tissues together. The second enzyme found in our blend is Elastase: a serine protease that also hydrolyzes amides and esters. It is produced in the pancreas as an inactive zymogen and activated in the duodenum by trypsin. While elastase will hydrolyze a wide variety of protein substrates, it is unique among proteases in its ability to hydrolyze native elastin, a substrate not attacked by trypsin, chymotrypsin or pepsin. Elastin, a matrix component of tissues involved in stretching processes, is found in highest concentrations in the elastic fibers of connective tissues. Elastase is frequently used to dissociate tissues which contain extensive intercellular fiber networks. For this purpose, it is usually used with other enzymes such as collagenase, trypsin, and chymotrypsin. Elastase is the enzyme of choice for the isolation of Type II cells from the lung