Recreating the natural cell niche is key to successful cultivation. The physical, topological, and biochemical expression of the different laminin isoforms in the BM is heterogeneous and tissue-specific. Laminins 111 and 121 are widely expressed during embryogenesis, important for early epithelial development and differentiation of the epiblast thus vital for the development of an embryo. However, the distribution after birth is restricted to only a few tissues, such as the brain and kidney. Biolaminin 121 LN (LN121) can be used as a general attachment protein for most cell types in vitro and in particular for hepatic and neural differentiation, and to enhance neurite outgrowth.
Laminin-121 is one of the α1 chains containing laminins and the other isoform is laminin-111. In the adult, laminin α1 chain expression is relatively restricted and is only present in some epithelial basement membranes, and primarily found in tissues such as the eye, liver, and kidney, whereas hardly expressed at all in endothelial, adipose, nervous, and muscle tissues (Ekblom, 2003; Virtanen, 2000).
Biolaminin 121 LN (LN121) can support the survival, proliferation, and differentiation of many different cell types in vitro. Biolaminin 121 LN (LN121) attachment and proliferation of for most cell types in vitro and are particularly useful for hepatic and neural differentiation. Biolaminin 121 also effectively supported neurite outgrowth. Biolaminin 121 has a higher affinity to integrin receptors compared to Biolaminin 111 with the highest affinity to α6β1 and α7β1 integrins (Sasaki, 2010).
Commonly, laminin 111 has been used as a general attachment protein for most cell types in vitro. Laminin 121-based cell culture substrates have not been commercially available until now and therefore the functional comparison between LN121, LN111 and other laminins isoforms is yet to be performed in order to understand the potential for LN121 for cells in culture.
However, known is that the laminin beta 2 chain has been suggested to have a higher affinity for integrins compared to the alfa 1 chain thus influencing the stability of integrin-laminin and activation of downstream effectors in cell signaling cascades.
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It is unknown why laminin 121 can exert all these major biological effects on such a wide selection of cell types, but one explanation is that, depending on the cell type, laminin 121 can not only induce different cell signaling cascades but as all laminins also co-signal with various growth factors.
However, by coating your plate with recombinant Biolaminin 121 you support your cells with a defined and animal component-free substrate. Therefore, LN121 enables better control of your cell-matrix and experiments.
