Biolaminin 411 LN

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. 

The human recombinant laminin 411 substrate, Biolaminin 411 LN (LN411), supports many diverse tissue cell types such as cells from the pancreas and the vascular, immune, nervous, hematopoietic systems, and can be key when culturing these cells.

Recombinant human laminin 511 and laminin 411 can in combination create a natural niche in the culture dish for endocrine pancreatic beta cells, promoting both the proliferation of β cells and insulin gene expression.

In the embryo, differentiation and insulin expression by the pancreas β cells is initiated by and dependent on specific signals from capillary endothelial cells (Lammert, 2001). However, pancreatic cells are unable to produce the extracellular proteins laminin 411 and laminin 511, which are expressed and secreted by endothelial cells.

Instead, the pancreatic islets express vascular endothelial growth factor to attract endothelial cells, providing both oxygen and nutrients and form the essential vascular network for insulin production by the β cells (Lammert, 2003; Nikolova, 2006).

Data presented by Nikolova (2006) and colleagues suggest that treating islets with these laminins prior to transplantation will help maintain insulin production until new capillaries are formed in transplanted islets and that laminin 411 and laminin 511 in cell culture potentially could mimic the biological environment in the pancreas.

BioLamina's revolutionary matrix system brings together the unique qualities of laminin 411 and laminin 511 to provide the solution for making pancreatic islet cells thrive.

One of the main isoforms of laminins in capillaries and larger vessels produced by endothelial cells is laminin 411 and, thus, it has a pivotal role in endothelial basal laminae function (Kortesmaa, 2000; Qian, 2007; Wondimu, 2004). Transgenic mice with an α4-chain laminin deficiency exhibit severe disorganization of microvessels, leading to microcirculation abnormalities (Thyboll, 2002; Wang, 2006).

In addition, during sprouting angiogenesis laminins are produced and deposited from the stalk cells to the tip cell filopodia, and control the diameter size of the vessel lumen (Jakobsson, 2008), further supporting the importance of the protein in endothelial structure and function.

Lymphoid cells are derived from bone marrow stem cells and differentiate either in the thymus or in the bone marrow. Lymphocytes are fundamental for innate and adaptive immunity and patrol the body for foreign antigens that activate them. Laminin 411 is secreted by lymphocytes and supports the proliferation, adhesion, and migration of lymphocytes (Geberhiwot, 2001). 

Laminin 411 is also involved in the survival, adhesion, and migration of blood neutrophils (Wondimu, 2004), and works as an adhesive substratum for bone marrow stem and progenitor cells and promote progenitor cell migration in vitro (Gu, 2003).