Lympholyte® Cell Separation Media in Action: Real Research Insights and Applications

Hi! I’m Alex, a Molecular Biology Technical Sales Specialist at VH Bio. While I might have left academia behind after my PhD, my passion for research never left me. I’m lucky enough to stay close to the scientific world, especially in immunology, by connecting with researchers and attending conferences. One product that always grabs attention—and plenty of conversation—is Lympholyte® from our partner Cedarlane.

What is Lympholyte®?

Cell Separation Media for the Isolation of PBMCS and PMNS

If you’ve ever worked with lymphocytes, you know how crucial reliable cell separation is. Lympholyte® is a cell separation medium that makes isolating viable lymphocytes straightforward through a technique called density gradient centrifugation. Here’s a quick look at how the process works (Figure 1):

Figure 1: Visual protocol showing how to use Lympholyte® from Cedarlane. [1]

We offer Lympholyte® in several versions designed for different species: mouse, rat, rabbit, human, and other mammalian cell populations (Lympholyte®-M, -R, -Rabbit, -H, and -Mammal, respectively). And from my conversations with researchers, I know that reliable separation of viable lymphocytes isn’t just convenient—it’s a must for those working on assays or functional studies, like cytotoxicity assays, FACS (Fluorescence-activated cell sorting), and in vivo/in vitro studies. The range of applications of Lympholyte® can be seen here:

Figure 2: Applications of Lympholyte® [1] 

Hearing from the Experts: What Researchers Say about Lympholyte® 

Let’s be honest, you don’t want to just hear me talk about how great Lympholyte® is! The best insights come from researchers who use it daily in their work. At conferences like the British Society of Immunology (BSI) meetings, I get to hear first-hand how Lympholyte® is helping researchers make progress in areas from cancer immunotherapy [2] to vaccine development [3]. 

Scott Davies, University of Birmingham 

Scott and I met through the BSI network, and we share a fondness for cholangiocytes (bile duct cells within the liver). Scott’s research focuses on how immune cells interact in chronic liver disease, specifically investigating immune cell infiltration in bile duct cells and the associated intracellular changes. For this work, he relies on Lympholyte® to isolate immune cells from blood samples. In fact, he recently published a paper where Lympholyte® played a key role in isolating the immune cells used in his study [4]. 

He shared with me how important this reliable isolation is for his work: 

Another longtime friend, Tyler, and I completed our PhDs together at the University of Leeds. Tyler’s research centres on oncolytic virus immunotherapy for sarcoma. She employs 2D and 3D multicellular in vitro models to evaluate the direct oncolytic and immune-stimulatory effects of these viruses. For this, she uses immunological assays with co-culture systems that combine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with tumour and stromal cells. To isolate the PBMCs needed for her assays, Tyler relies on Lympholyte®, which provides a consistent and high-quality cell yield for her experiments. 

Here’s what she had to say: 

Both Scott and Tyler’s feedback means a lot to me because I know how demanding their work is. Hearing that Lympholyte® helps them achieve better yields and lower contamination shows that the product genuinely makes a difference. And as a friend, I love that I can support their work with tools that keep up with their research needs. 

Daniel Bull, Alcyomics 

Further VH Bio client feedback has been supplied from Daniel Bull, a scientist from Alcyomics, a company which has developed unique non-animal non-artificial human based in vitro assays that transform drug development by enabling early and accurate identification of safe and efficacious compounds. 

Daniel’s work at Alcyomics involves the testing and quantification of immune responses found within the skin, utilising a patented assay that requires PBMC isolation from donor blood samples in combination with allogeneic skin. Client compounds are tested on the skin for immunogenicity. For this process, he employs Lympholyte®-H to isolate viable lymphocytes and monocytes from human blood with high precision. The methods Daniel’s work entails include the following:  

• PBMC isolation 

• Elisa 

• MSD Elisa  

• qPCR 

• IHC/IF staining  

Daniel said he would 100% recommend Lympholyte® products to a colleague, and also said:

Why choose Lympholyte® for your Cell Separation Media? 

So, what makes Lympholyte® such a great choice? First, it delivers a high yield and consistent isolation of viable lymphocytes, which is crucial when you’re aiming for reliable results. Researchers appreciate not only the quality of these cells but also that they’re truly ready for whatever application follows, whether it’s immunostaining, functional assays, or further separations. 

What’s more, Lympholyte® is incredibly versatile. It’s designed with optimised formulations for different species so you can work across multiple models with the same dependable results. This flexibility can make all the difference when you need consistency across various cell types. 

And then there’s the cost-effectiveness. Lympholyte® strikes that ideal balance between quality and budget, making it a practical choice that doesn’t compromise on performance. For labs looking to maximise both reliability and resources, it’s a dependable option that supports research without stretching the budget. 

Try Lympholyte® in Your Lab 

If you’re curious about Lympholyte®, why not give it a try? We’re offering a free sample (30 mL bottle) of the Lympholyte® type that best suits your research. Just send me an email at info@vhbio.com, and I’ll be happy to get a sample over to your lab. 

Already convinced? We also offer a 20% discount on Lympholyte® products for new customers! 

20% Discount

on Lympholyte® Products for New Customers

References

[1] Cedarlane (2024) Lympholyte® Cell Separation Media Brochure. Version 03.2024

[2] Sun Y., Revach, Oy., Anderson, S., Kessler, E., Wolfe, C., Jenney, A., Mills, C., Robitschek, E., Davis, T., Kim, S., Fu, A., Ma, X., Gwee, J., Tiwari, P., Du, P., Sindurakar, P., Tian, J., Mehta, A., Schneider, A., Yizhak, K., Sade-Feldman, M., LaSalle, T., Sharova, T., Xie, H., Liu, S., Michaud, W., Saad-Beretta, R., Yates, K., Iracheta-Vellve, A., Spetz, J., Qin, X., Sarosiek, K., Zhang, G., Wook Kim, J., Su, M., Cicerchia, A., Rasmussen, M., Klempner, S., Juric, D., Pai, S., Miller, D., Giobbie-Hurder, A., Chen, J., Pelka, K., Frederick, D., Stinson, S., Ivanova, E., Aref, A., Paweletz, C., Barbie, D., Sen, D., Fisher, D., Corcoran, R., Hacohen, N., Sorger, P., Flaherty, K., Boland, G., Manguso, R., Jenkins, R. (2023) Targeting TBK1 to overcome resistance to cancer immunotherapy. Nature. 615(7950):158-167

[3] van de Ven K, Lanfermeijer, J., van Dijken, H., Muramatsu, H., Vilas Boas de Melo, C., Lenz, S., Peters, F., Beattie, M., Lin, P., Ferreira, J., van den Brand, J., van Baarle, D., Pardi, N., de Jonge, J. (2022) A universal influenza mRNA vaccine candidate boosts T cell responses and reduces zoonotic influenza virus disease in ferrets. Science Advances. 8(50):eadc9937.

[4] Davies, S., Ronca, V., Wootton, G., Krajewska, N., Bozward, A., Fiancette, R., Patten, D., Yankouskaya, K., Reynolds, G., Pat, S., Osei-Bordom, D., Richardson, N., Grover, L., Weston, C., Oo, Y. (2024) Expression of E-cadherin by CD8+ T cells promotes their invasion into biliary epithelial cells. Nature Communications. 15(853)