KeraFAST Introduces FASTCell™ Meta-Keratin--Breakthrough Cell Culture Coating Material

KeraFAST today announced the introduction of FASTCell™Mera-Keratins, a line of products that make use of KeraFAST's proprietary human keratin biomaterials, which can be used in place of tissue culture coatings such as collagen or basement membrane extract (e.g., Matrigel™). Available as a lyophilized powder for reconstitution as a coating material, the Mera-Keratin product line is highly purified, sterile, and free of any animal materials. Meta-Keratins contain structural features such as binding domains that are recognized by integrin receptors to promote cell surface attachment.

KeraFAST takes advantage of proprietary isolation technologies exclusively licensed from the laboratory of Dr. Mark Van Dyke at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine to produce four preparations of human keratin: Meta-Keratin I, Meta-Keratin II, Meta-Keratin III and Meta-Keratin IV, each of which, like other cell culture coatings, differs subtly in its capacity to emulate the extracellular matrix (ECM) and promote growth, differentiation and function in various cell types.

Bob Bondaryk, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer at KeraFAST said: “These Meta-Keratin products are the first in a family of Keratin xeno-free products that we will introduce in the near future. We have already received great reviews from our beta-site laboratories testing the products over the past several months. By helping cell lines to attach, proliferate and differentiate, we’re seeking to make life easier for researchers culturing hard-to-grow cells.”