Frequently Asked Questions

LunaGel contains a proprietary mixture of photocrosslinkable Gelatin and a visible light photoinitiator dissolved in phosphate buffered saline. No chemicals are added to LunaGel.

LunaGel forms hydrogels by photocrosslinking of chemically reactive groups and forms stable hydrogels. Unlike unmodified gelatins, LunaGel does not melt when heated.

The LEDs we use have a guaranteed lifespan with at least 95% of initial intensity of 50,000 hours (8 hours/day for 17 years) and the device is basically maintenance free.

It is possible to use black-walled plates. However, some optimisation will be necessary. As the black plates limit the amount of light getting to the sample, a higher concentration (2x) of photoinitiator is required, and the crosslinking duration may have to be optimised to achieve the desired cell performance/phenotype. We can help you with the optimisation when you’re ready to get started, but as a general guide we suggest to use 2x concentration of the photoinitiator (dissolve photoinitiator in 500 ul and mix 1:1 with the ECM), and try different crosslinking times, for example, 1, 2, 4, and 8 minutes, and observe if the gel forms and the cell growth.

You can certainly do that and it may make it easier to work with. From our tests and experience, however, this is not strictly necessary as the ECM is stable at temperature of up to 50 degrees Celsius.

The stiffness range is approx. 0 - 6 kPa in Compressive/Young's modulus as measured using our standard compression testing regime. Please note that stiffness is, as you know, depending on several factors including sample volume, and should ideally be confirmed in your culture format.