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Cell lysis in liquid nitrogen, yeast lysis

Cell disruption using a tissue pulverizer in liquid nitrogen is often necessary to access the cellular contents of tough samples such as tumors, skin, seeds, venous tissue and plant material.  In these cases, extracellular matrices are often the primary barrier to cell lysing, rather than the cell membranes or walls.

Cell lysing in liquid nitrogen works most effectively with samples that contain water, as water becomes extremely brittle at cryogenic temperatures.  Following impact, the ice shatters, disrupting the extracellular matrix.  Cell lysis of drier samples, such as seeds or bark, is more difficult and often requires secondary grinding, using a mortar and pestle, or, more effectively, the Drill-bit accessory used in conjunction with the Cellcrusher frozen tissue pulverizer.

The Drill-bit accessory is also useful for yeast cell lysis or fungi lysis at liquid nitrogen temperatures.  Cell lysis at liquid nitrogen temperatures is also useful for disruption of relatively soft tissues (e.g. brain or muscle) when labile components, such as RNA or certain proteins, are being extracted.

Cellcrusher will shortly launch an innovative range of gradient mixers. These new types of gradient mixer will facilitate the creation of linear and exponential concentration gradients.