The Crucial Role of Cytokines in Biomedical Research and Drug Development

Low Endotoxin Cytokines Matters

Organoid culture, CAR-T cell therapy, stem cell therapy, and other topics have become broadly discussed among biomedical researchers. In fact, it is not difficult to see that these advanced technologies are all related to cell culture. In order to maintain efficient growth, proliferation, and differentiation during in vitro cell culture, many cell cultures require the addition of various cytokines.

Cytokines Backgrounds

Cytokines are proteins synthesized and secreted by immune cells such as monocytes/macrophages and certain non-immune cells such as endothelial cells, epithelial cells, and fibroblasts, in response to stimulation. They play a role in regulating immune responses, cell growth and differentiation, tissue damage, and repair, among other biological activities.

Classification and function

Cytokines can be classified into different groups based on their functions, including: interleukin (IL), interferon (IFN), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), colony stimulating factor (CSF), chemokine family, growth factor (GF), and TGF-β family.

Cytokine Types

Functions

Example Genes

Interleukins (IL)

Regulate immune responses, cell growth, and differentiation

IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12

Interferons (IFN)

Antiviral defense, modulate immune responses

IFN-α, IFN-β, IFN-γ

Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)

Induce inflammation, apoptosis, and immune responses

TNF-α, TNF-β

Colony Stimulating Factors (CSF)

Stimulate growth and differentiation of specific blood cells

CSF-1, CSF-2, CSF-3, GM-CSF

Chemokine Family

Control cell migration, involved in immune responses

CXCL8, CCL2, CXCL12, CXCR4, CCR5

Growth Factors

Promote cell growth, tissue repair, and development

EGF, FGF, PDGF, VEGF, TGF-β

TGF-β Family

Regulate cell growth, differentiation, and immune responses

TGF-β1, TGF-β2, TGF-β3

Table 1. Common Classification and Function of Cytokines [1-6]

Cytokines Applications

Cytokines are a type of signaling protein that primarily regulates a series of biological functions by binding to specific receptors. These functions include innate and adaptive immunity, hematopoiesis (blood cell formation), inflammation and repair, proliferation, and differentiation.

They are usually applied to the fields of:

  • Cell culture additives: Added to the cell culture system to stimulate cell proliferation and differentiation. Various cell factors are involved in processes such as stem cell culture, immune cell culture, and organoid culture.
  • Disease modeling: Using cytokines in vitro to establish disease models for studying disease mechanisms or testing therapeutic drugs.
  • Cytokine drugs: Cytokines have antiviral or anti-tumor effects and can be directly developed into recombinant protein drugs, such as interleukin-2 and interferon, which are already on the market.
  • Antibody drug development: Cytokines can be used as immunogens to immunize animals and screen for antibody drugs targeting cytokine targets for disease treatment.
  • Disease diagnosis/monitoring markers: Cytokines in the body are in a dynamic balance, and excessive secretion or expression of certain cytokines can lead to the development of diseases. By measuring the levels of relevant cytokines, disease diagnosis and prognosis monitoring can be performed.
  • Medical aesthetics: Cytokines can promote cell proliferation and differentiation, and have functions in tissue regeneration and wound healing, making them valuable in medical trauma repair.

How to Choose High-Quality Cytokines

Cytokines have extensive applications in basic scientific research and drug development. However, extracting them from samples such as blood is challenging due to low content, low purity, and high cost, which cannot meet market demands. Currently, cytokines are primarily produced through genetic engineering and DNA recombinant technology, enabling large-scale production. Therefore, selecting high-quality recombinant cytokines becomes particularly important. Failing to choose the right cytokines may impede smooth experimentation, wasting time, effort, and precious sample materials. Therefore, when selecting cytokines, the following factors should be considered:

  1. Supplier selection: Generally, companies with good reputation and higher technological capacity are preferred, as they have the capability to conduct various quality control tests on cytokine products to ensure their quality.
  2. Number of citations: A higher number of citations indicates more extensive experimental validation and higher reliability.
  3. Information about the cytokine product itself: Higher purity, lower endotoxin levels, and better biological activity indicate higher product quality.

BetaLifeScience has independently developed over 60 low-endotoxin cytokines (<10 EU/mg). This helps eliminate interference from endotoxins in experiments and is particularly suitable for research involving organoids, stem cells, immune cells, and disease modeling.

Product Features:

  • All products are sterile and can be used directly without the need for additional filtration or sterilization. 
  • They as well have low endotoxin levels (<10 EU/mg), significantly lower than the industry average
  • High purity, high activity, and high batch-to-batch consistency. 
  • They are also Free from carrier proteins.
  • Most of our cytokine selections are in stock, orders are shipped within one work week.

Beta LifeScience’s Cytokines portfolio covers for a variety of experimental scenarios with the rich variety which includes interleukins, growth factors, interferons, tumor necrosis factors, chemokines, and the TGF-beta family, suitable for research on organoids, stem cells, immune cells, and disease modeling.

Organoid culture factors have been validated in organoid cultures and exhibit excellent performance.

Mouse intestinal organoids were cultured with EGF, Wnt3a, Noggin and R-spondin 1
Mouse intestinal organoids were cultured with EGF (Cat#BL-1779NP), Wnt3a, Noggin (Cat#BL-0001NP) and R-spondin 1 (Cat#BL-0319NP). After five days of culture, the organoids showed good morphology and germination rate.

Sample Product Data

Recombinant Human Noggin(Cat. No.:BL-2253NP)

BL-2253NP: Greater than 95% as determined by reducing SDS-PAGE. (QC verified)
Greater than 95% as determined by reducing SDS-PAGE.
Recombinant Human Noggin: greater than 95% as determined by SEC-HPLC
Greater than 95% as determined by SEC-HPLC. 
easured by its ability to inhibit BMP-2-induced alkaline phosphatase production by ATDC5 mouse chondrogenic cells The ED50 for this effect is 0.2 μg/mL in the presence of 2000 ng/mL of Recombinant Human BMP‑2
Measured by its ability to inhibit BMP-2-induced alkaline phosphatase production by ATDC5 mouse chondrogenic cells The ED50 for this effect is 0.2 μg/mL in the presence of 2000 ng/mL of Recombinant Human BMP‑2(#BL-1735NP).
 
Recombinant Human TGF-beta 1 (Cat. No.:BL-1741NP)
Recombinant Human TGF-beta 1: Greater than 95% as determined by reducing SDS-PAGE.
Greater than 95% as determined by reducing SDS-PAGE.
Measured by its ability to inhibit the IL-4-dependent proliferation of TF‑1 human erythroleukemic cells. The ED50 for this effect is 4-40 pg/ml.
Measured by its ability to inhibit the IL-4-dependent proliferation of TF‑1 human erythroleukemic cells. The ED50 for this effect is 4-40 pg/ml.
Recombinant Human RSPO1 (C-6His)(Cat. No.:BL-0319NP)
Recombinant Human RSPO1 (C-6His): Greater than 95% as determined by reducing SDS-PAGE
Greater than 95% as determined by reducing SDS-PAGE.
Recombinant Human RSPO1 (C-6His): measured by its ability to induce Topflash reporter activity in HEK293T human embryonic kidney cells. The ED50 for this effect is 4.06 ng/ml.
Measured by its ability to induce Topflash reporter activity in HEK293T human embryonic kidney cells. The ED50 for this effect is 4.06 ng/ml.
Recombinant Human Wnt3a V3
Recombinant Human Wnt3a V3. Greater than 95% as determined by reducing SDS-PAGE.
Greater than 95% as determined by reducing SDS-PAGE.

Featured Low Endotoxin Cytokines

Cat. No.

Product Name

BL-1821NP

Recombinant Human/Mouse/Rat Activin A

BL-1701NP

Recombinant Human Beta-NGF

BL-1756NP

Recombinant Human/Murine/Rat BDNF

BL-1735NP

Recombinant Human/Mouse/Rat BMP-2

BL-1954NP

Recombinant Mouse CCL2

BL-0564NP

Recombinant Human CXCL1 (C-6His)

BL-1802NP

Recombinant Human CXCL12 (68AA)

BL-2511NP

Recombinant Human DKK-1 (N-8His)

BL-1779NP

Recombinant Human EGF

BL-0867NP

Recombinant Human FGF-19 (N-6His)

BL-1718NP

Recombinant Mouse FGFb

BL-1721NP

Recombinant Human FGFb (146AA)

BL-1955NP

Recombinant Human FGF-10

BL-1723NP

Recombinant Human FGF-4 (153AA)

BL-2266NP

Recombinant Mouse FGF-4

BL-2874NP

Recombinant Human/Mouse FGF-8b

BL-2891NP

Recombinant Mouse FGF-9 (C-6His)

BL-0705NP

Recombinant Human FLT3LG (C-6His)

BL-1709NP

Recombinant Human G-CSF

BL-1696NP

Recombinant Human GM-CSF (E. coli)

BL-1708NP

Recombinant Mouse GM-CSF

BL-0722NP

Recombinant Mouse G-CSF (C-6His)

BL-0311NP

Recombinant Human HGF (C-6His)

BL-1219NP

Recombinant Mouse HGF (C-6His)

BL-1772NP

Recombinant Human IFN gamma 

BL-1831NP

Recombinant Mouse IFN gamma

BL-1746NP

Recombinant Human IL-1a

BL-1714NP

Recombinant Human IL-2

BL-1717NP

Recombinant Mouse IL-2

BL-0275NP

Recombinant Human IL-3 (C-6His)

BL-1068NP

Recombinant Mouse IL-3 (C-6His)

BL-2119NP

Recombinant Human IL-4

Cat. No.

Product Name

BL-1698NP

Recombinant Human IL-6

BL-2124NP

Recombinant Human IL-7 (C-6His)

BL-1850NP

Recombinant Human IL-10

BL-1734NP

Recombinant Mouse IL-10

BL-1925NP

Recombinant Mouse IL-12

BL-1715NP

Recombinant Human IL-15

BL-0607NP

Recombinant Human IL-17A (C-6His)

BL-2121NP

Recombinant Mouse IL-17A (C-6His)

BL-2128NP

Recombinant Human IL-18 (C-6His)

BL-2028NP

Recombinant Human IL-21

BL-1907NP

Recombinant Mouse IL-21

BL-1796NP

Recombinant Human IL-33

BL-1755NP

Recombinant Mouse IL-33

BL-1730NP

Recombinant Human LIF

BL-0453NP

Recombinant Human M-CSF (C-6His)

BL-0603NP

Recombinant Mouse M-CSF

BL-1758NP

Recombinant Human NT-3

BL-1832NP

Recombinant Human NRG1Beta (245AA)

BL-1736NP

Recombinant Human NovoNectin

BL-2253NP

Recombinant Human Noggin

BL-2236NP

Recombinant Human OSM (N-6His)

BL-2688NP

Recombinant Human PRL

BL-0319NP

Recombinant Human RSPO1 (C-6His)

BL-2025NP

Recombinant Human SHH

BL-1763NP

Recombinant Mouse SHH

BL-2024NP

Recombinant Human SHH (C24II)

BL-2030NP

Recombinant Mouse SHH (C25II)

BL-1699NP

Recombinant Human SCF

BL-1732NP

Recombinant Mouse SCF

BL-1741NP

Recombinant Human TGF-beta 1

BL-1743NP

Recombinant Mouse/Rat TGF-beta 1

BL-1740NP

Recombinant Human TGF-beta 2

BL-1739NP

Recombinant Human/Mouse/Rat TGFB3

BL-0277NP

Recombinant Human TPO (N, C-6His)

BL-1695NP

Recombinant Mouse TNF alpha

BL-1794NP

Recombinant Human VEGF165

Reference

[1]. Capobianchi, Maria Rosaria et al. “Type I IFN family members: similarity, differences and interaction.” Cytokine & growth factor reviews vol. 26,2 (2015): 103-11. doi:10.1016/j.cytogfr.2014.10.011
[2]. Balkwill, Frances. “Tumour necrosis factor and cancer.” Nature reviews. Cancer vol. 9,5 (2009): 361-71. doi:10.1038/nrc2628
[3]. Bath, P M W, and N Sprigg. “Colony stimulating factors (including erythropoietin, granulocyte colony stimulating factor and analogues) for stroke.” The Cochrane database of systematic reviews ,2 CD005207. 18 Apr. 2007, doi:10.1002/14651858.CD005207.pub3
[4]. Metcalf, Donald. “The colony-stimulating factors and cancer.” Cancer immunology research vol. 1,6 (2013): 351-6. doi:10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-13-0151
[5]. Hughes, Catherine E, and Robert J B Nibbs. “A guide to chemokines and their receptors.” The FEBS journal vol. 285,16 (2018): 2944-2971. doi:10.1111/febs.14466
[6]. Tzavlaki, Kalliopi, and Aristidis Moustakas. “TGF-β Signaling.” Biomolecules vol. 10,3 487. 23 Mar. 2020, doi:10.3390/biom10030487