Enabling a Healthier World

Quality, Purity,Functionality
Evaluating Performance
Factors of Cryopreserved
Peripheral Mononuclear
Blood Cells

Quality
Cell Count and Viability Exceeding Industry Standards

Lonza PBMCs are isolated via apheresis and density gradient separation, and come in a variety of ampule sizes tomeet your research needs. Each ampule is guaranteed toprovide ≥10, 25, 50 or 100 million viable cells upon thawing.
Post-thaw viability is guaranteed to meet an industry standard of ≥70% in every ampoule. To demonstrate this, we
randomly sampled three donor lots (Lonza CC-2702; ≥50
million cells) and found post-thaw averages of 54 ± 3 millioncells per amp with an average % viability of 89 ± 5 (Fig. 1),
clearly showing that Lonza cells greatly exceed industry
benchmarks for quality.

Figure 1.
Average Total Viable Cells
80(Millions) and Cell Viability(%) of three randomly
4060
tested lots of Lonza PBMCs
guaranteed to have ≥5040
million cells and ≥70%
20viability. PBMCs were
20thawed, centrifuged,
purged of cryopreservation
00medium, then resuspended
in medium and counted
Total Viable Cells (Millions)
Cell Viability (%) using Trypan blue 0.4% in a
1:2 dilution and a hemocyGuaranteed Viable Cells (≥50M)
tometer.
Guaranteed Viability (≥70%)
60

100

Cell Viability (%)

Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) area mixed population of immune cells critical to both innate
and adaptive immune functions. They contain a wide variety of cell types (lymphocytes, B, NK, DC and T cells) thatcan be isolated for specific applications or used as a whole
population to model human immune physiology. There arethree critical factors to consider when choosing a PBMC
product: quality, purity, and functionality. Choosing Lonza’s
cryopreserved PBMCs guarantees all three.

Total Viable Cells (Millions)

Experiment at Ease: Quality PBMCs With Minimal RBCs

PurityDiverse Immune Cells, Low RBCs

Measuring immunophenotypic marker expression acrossthe same three lots of Lonza CC-2702 PBMCs, we see aconsistent and diverse spectrum of immune cell types
across donors, as expected, with low levels of red blood cell
contamination (Fig. 2). Percent marker expression fell within
typical ranges for PBMCs (Table 1). Comparing average
CD235a expression (marker expressed by red blood cells)
for the same three lots of Lonza’s PBMCs to that of threerandom lots from three competitors, we see that Lonza

% Positive Expression

PBMCs had the lowest average expression of CD235a andtherefore the highest purity, indicating significantly lower
contamination by red blood cells (Fig. 3).
100806040200)))
s)
s)
s)
C)
lls)
lls)
es
DC o DCellellellcece(RB ocytnnoKc
T c per cic(B(ooa+Nxh(++l5oMMt3
19mp
he23+(6++(toCD
14(TCD CD5(Ly11ccyCD(TCD4+5+CD+4D8CCDCDFigure 2.
Population distribution of cells averaged across three randomly tested lotsof Lonza human PBMCs. Bars represent average % positive maker expression determined by immunophenotyping. The type of cell indicated by eachmarker is shown in parentheses. RBC = red blood cells, NK = natural killercells, DC = dendritic cells, CTL = cytotoxic T cells.

MarkerCell Type% Positive

Typical range

CD3+

T

45.1% ± 9.9%45 – 70%

CD4+

Helper T

44.8% ± 8.7%

25 – 60%

CD8+

Cytotoxic T

19.4% ± 4.8%

5 – 30%CD19+

B

14.2% ± 1.3%

5 – 15%

CD56+

NK

14.5% ± 3.5%

5 – 10%

CD14+

Mono DC

27.1% ± 4.9%

10 – 30%

CD11c+

Mono DC

42.7% ± 6.6%

Unknown% CD235a+ Expression

Table 1.
Average ± SEM % marker expression for three randomly tested lots of Lonza
PBMCs (see Fig. 2) compared with typical ranges for % marker expression
found in PBMCs. Our results show that Lonza PBMCs contain a diverse cell
population that falls within representative ranges, another indicator ofquality.
30Figure 3.
Purity comparison of human
PBMCs between Lonza and threecompeting brands. Three donor
lots were tested and averaged foreach competitor. Bars represent% positive expression of red blood
cell immunophenotyping marker
CD235a+.

20

100ar A tor B
rCnz
totoLoeti
eti
etipppmmm
CoCoCoFunctionality
The Convenience of Frozen With The Confidence ofFresh PBMCsLonza cryopreserved PBMCs maintain optimal functionality
post-thawing. Testing the same three Lonza PBMC lots asabove, average % mature dendritic cell (DC) marker expression was significantly higher after LPS stimulation, while
CFSE staining showed rapid T cell proliferation when theinflammatory cytokine IL-2 was added along with CD3 andCD28 antigens (data not shown). Furthermore, we recently
developed a protocol for co-culturing DC and CD8+ T cells
derived from cryopreserved PBMCs that can be found on
the Lonza Bioscience website.
PBMCs are used in a large variety of applications, fromvaccine and drug development to immunology and diseasemodeling. Whether you are isolating a specific cell type ormodeling complex immune responses to drugs or diseases, Lonza cryopreserved PBMCs offer the quality, purity
and functionality you need to achieve your research goals.
Lonza maintains inventory from a diverse donor population,
allowing you to choose lots based on donor demographic
characteristics to develop a representative sample groupthat works for you. Contact Lonza Scientific Support for
more information.
Description

Catalog No.

Size

Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear
Cells (hPBMC), Cryopreserved

CC-2702≥50 million cells

CC-2703≥100 million cells

CC-2704≥10 million cells

CC-2705≥25 million cells

Use Lonza’s X-VIVO® 15 Serum-free Hematopoietic Cell Medium, (Lonza Catno.: 02-053Q) for culturing PBMCs and other immune cell types. Options areavailable with and without gentamicin and phenol red, with native or recombinant transferrin, and for RUO vs FFM (TheraPeak®). Visit the Lonza website
for more information.

Contact Us
North America

Customer Service: + 1 800 638 8174 (toll free)order.us@lonza.com
Scientific Support: + 1 800 521 0390 (toll free)scientific.support@lonza.com

EuropeCustomer Service: + 32 87 321 611
order.europe@lonza.com
Scientific Support: + 32 87 321 611
scientific.support.eu@lonza.com

InternationalContact your local Lonza Distributor
Customer Service: + 1 301 898 7025
Fax:+ 1 301 845 8291
scientific.support@lonza.com
Lonza Walkersville, Inc. – Walkersville, MD 21793
For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.
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