Cell lysis is commonly described as the process of releasing biological molecules from inside a cell, and is a powerful method utilized in a variety of manufacturing industries, including pharmaceutical, cosmetic, biotech, and R&D settings. With the popularity of this technology, more and more industry professionals are seeking out homogenizers to assist with the process of cell lysis. However, before settling on the right homogenizer for the job, it is important to understand more about cell lysis and what it entails.
During the process of cell lysis, in order to thoroughly study and analyze the behavior of molecules, the cells that produce the molecules in question must be disrupted. Disruption of cells can be achieved in numerous ways, including cryopulverization, nitrogen decompression, or through using a homogenizer. Each method comes with varying degrees of complexity, ease, and success.
Cryopulverization is one way of accomplishing cell lysis and is most often used for cellular samples with a tough outer matrix, such as cartilage, connective tissue, or seeds. In this method, the samples are reduced to a powder through the use of liquid nitrogen and impact pulverization. This method, while successful, is often time consuming and expensive.
Nitrogen decompression, as the name suggests, uses large quantities of nitrogen to achieve cell lysis. In this particular method, nitrogen is dissolved in the cell under very high pressures. When the pressure is released, the nitrogen violently escapes the cell, causing disruption and breakage of the cell walls. While nitrogen decompression is successful in disrupting certain types of cells – plant cells, bacteria, and other fragile cell types are most receptive to this treatment – it has not been proven to be effective in disrupting cells with tougher outer matrices, such as yeast, spores, and fungus.
Homogenization is arguably the most widely used method of cell lysis, especially for small volumes of cells and/or cultured cells. This method involves the use of shearing force on the cell. This is achieved by forcing the small cell through an even smaller sized orifice. This removes the outer layer and lyses the cell.
Pion offers a number of high-quality BEE brand homogenizers to meet the needs of any industry when it comes to the process of cell lysis and disruption. Our laboratory grade homogenizers include the Nano DeBEE, Micro DeBEE, and Mini DeBEE – all three are easy to use, offer consistent and reliable results, and easily scale up for full scale production. In addition, our homogenizers offer maximum experimentation capabilities, the ability to change flow, pressure, shear, and impact settings, and offer high pressures up to 45,000 PSI for maximum effectiveness with cell lysis and disruption.
Contact us today to learn more about how our line of homogenizers can help you meet your production needs. We are more than happy to help you get started on your next big project, and to help you choose the right homogenizer for the most efficient and effective cell lysis.
