AXT adds Alvéole's cell biology platform to its portfolio

Scientific equipment supplier AXT has announced the addition of Alvéole’s bioengineering platform for cell biology to its product portfolio. The Alvéole platform allows users to convert an existing microscope into an automated bioengineering system for the engineering of smart cell culture substrates.

Alvéole is a French-based manufacturer specialising in designing tools for engineering more reproducible in vitro cell microenvironments. This allows researchers working in areas such as proteins and drug discovery to take control of the cellular microenvironment by giving them improved control over experimental conditions. In doing so, they can produce in vivo-like environments that accelerate cell biology research by producing cell studies with increased relevance.

Alvéole was founded in 2010 by a team of industry experts who recognised the need for a new in vitro model that more accurately mimics in vivo conditions. Bringing together expertise in bioengineering, cellular imaging and nanostructures and nanofabrication, the company’s work to date has culminated in a platform that involves a micropatterning technique which results in cell studies with increased relevance and ease of use.

The Alvéole platform can be retrofitted to existing or new inverted light microscopes, allowing users to study precise cellular interactions in the laboratory. Cells can be imaged under complex and closely controlled environments that are easily reproducible, making it a useful biological research tool. Recent expansion of the portfolio has resulted in the micropatterning system being used to precisely pattern cellular location of TEM grids, expanding the ease of use in cryo-electron microscopy imaging and analysis.

“The Alvéole platform is a unique and intuitive tool that can orchestrate, organise and control the cellular environment that results in an in vitro model that better mimics in vivo conditions,” said Hélène Delobel, Sales Operation Manager at Alvéole. “We are very proud of our technology and our new distribution agreement with AXT.”

Richard Trett, Managing Director of AXT, added, “Alvéole’s innovative platform has synergies with our existing protein and microscopy product lines and we see great potential for it in areas such as biotherapeutics and cryo-electron microscopy.”

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