Importance
Many cell biology techniques have been developed over the years, with their success dependent on factors such as the key ingredients of the culture medium, type of transfection reagents used, the type of cell line used, genetic expression to be studied, the number of passages a cell line has gone through, purity of oligonucleotides (siRNA, miRNA and DNA), and contamination.
If researchers did not have to worry about extraneous factors they could place more focus on the core aspect of their experiments. To aid and guide researchers around these obstacles, many organizations manufacture products and provide services for laboratory-based experiments. Such services can provide valuable efficacy in the testing of novel drugs, and provide a secure avenue for the obtaining of reliable results. As such, custom research services carry a large advantage over time-pressed laboratories; the data collected is guaranteed to be reliable, eliminating the risk of failure driven by inexperience or lack of resources.
Life Science Services
As the name indicates, the objective of life science service companies is to assist scientists in the general improvement in the quality of life, drug discovery and developing novel therapeutic strategies. Generally speaking, life science companies busy themselves with the development of medical devices and drugs to be used in humans. Some commonly offered custom life science services are mentioned below.
Protein Expression
This often-used cell biology technique helps life scientists understand the function and structure of cells and its components. The understanding of basic cellular pathways will help determine revolutionary treatment strategies. In addition to providing protein expression services, some companies offer purification of the protein of interest. Other services include protein tagging for easy isolation and identification.
RNAi Services
Presently, gene silencing is a powerful tool among biology researchers. This technique helps determine the exact involvement of a silenced gene and provides hope for future RNAi therapeutics. Typical RNAi services include oligonucleotide design and synthesis, RNAi delivery agents, purification of the genetic material, cloning, use of an appropriate transfection reagent, construction of necessary vectors or dsRNA targeting a gene of interest, and optimization of the transfection system.
DNA Synthesis
What was once an incomprehensible task is now frequently used in laboratories across the world. DNA synthesis services refer to the creation of specific DNA or gene sequences to study gene expression or create DNA libraries. Prices for DNA synthesis have dropped dramatically over the past few years, now hovering around 0.08–0.20 USD per nucleotide, and much more research has incorporated DNA synthesis into their studies. Companies such as IDT offer contract production of quality nucleotides which may then be used for a variety of purposes, including transfection for altering gene expression and/or gene silencing. Such companies can work with clients to develop specific sequences for transfection needs that are difficult to obtain using traditional plasmid techniques.
Immunohistochemistry Services
Histological services include tissue fixation, immunostaining, tissue sectioning and interpretation of immunostaining and resultant images. There are many products and services commercially available that can help with identifying the specific mechanisms behind tissue functionality. Other specific services could be testing of new antibodies, optimizing staining for detection, or specialized detection reagents. Depending on the company, services may be automated on platforms or manually by hand. The detection of antibodies could be particularly useful in analyzing the tissue changes associated with diseases. There are many products and services commercially available that can help with identifying the specific mechanisms behind tissue functionality (https://www.ohsu.edu/histopathology-core/immunohistochemistry-services).
Cell Line Derived Xenografts (CDX)
Xenografting involves the transplantation of tissue from one species into a different species. The most popular type of xenograft is the transplanting (also known as xenotransplantation) of human tumor tissue (either cancer cell line derived, known as CDX, or patient-derived, known as patient-derived xenografting or PDX) into immunocompromised mice. This method supplies a more precise model of tumor cells than simply relying on in vitro studies. Xenograft experiments are an extremely effective tool in oncology and other diseases, performing a vital task in the evaluation of novel cancer therapeutics as labs transition from initial lab studies to clinical implementation.