As an excellent model organism, despite the many experimental advantages of C. elegans, the tough cuticle surrounding the animal and the small size of most somatic cells limit the study of cell-specific gene expression and function at the molecular level. Therefore, large-scale isolation and culture of primary worm cells are required. Isolated C. elegans cells are also an important model system and can be used to study electrophysiology, cell autonomous development/behavior, and analysis of single-cell profiling. CD BioSciences has developed an efficient and technically simple platform for large-scale isolation and primary culture C. elegans cells from both embryos and all four larval stages, hoping to meet the specific needs of clients' research.

C. elegans Cells Isolation and Culture

Cell isolation and culture are essential tools for the study of cell function. Isolated cells have several advantages that can't be replaced with whole animals or even tissue explants, such as growth under controlled conditions, being manipulated and imaged at a level of resolution. With the development of science and technology, large-scale isolation and culture methods have been widely exploited for the study of C. elegans, involving primary C. elegans cells from embryos and to all larval stages.

• Initially, due to the chitinous shell of embryos, the tough outer cuticle of larval, and the resistance of adult C. elegans to cell and tissue explanation, the worm cells are far more difficult to isolate and culture than insect or vertebrate cells. At present, the large populations of embryonic cells are extracted by vigorous pipetting after eggshell digestion.
• In contrast to embryos, the larval and adult nematodes have the tough cuticle, which seems an almost impenetrable barrier for segregation and culturing post-embryonic cells. Mild chemical disruption of the larval cuticle and release of cells by repeated pipetting enables primary culture of helminth cells from four larval stages.

Our Services

As experts in C. elegans research, CD BioSciences utilizes expertise and extensive experience to provide C. elegans cell isolation and culture services to clients worldwide, providing a new foundation for a wide range of experimental opportunities. Our services include, but are not limited to:

• C. elegans Embryonic Cell Isolation and Culture
  We have developed an optimal protocol that allows the robust, large-scale culture of C. elegans embryonic cells, including chitinase solution, chitinase digestion and dissociation of embryos, filter separation of embryonic cells from debris, and plating cells from the purest fractions. The worm cells (including mainly embryo cells with fraction of stage L1 cells) are gained by chitinase digestion with further dissociating through pipetting.
• C. elegans Larval Cell Isolation and Culture
  Here we employ the chemical treatment (SDS-DTT) and proteases to dispose of worm cuticle. The treatment times of SDS-DTT and proteases have been optimized by stage to minimize cell damage and promote cell survival for each of the four larval stages.

Eggs are isolated from gravid adults and hatched overnight.

L1-L4 worms are isolated separately.

C. elegans are treated with SDS-DTT.

Cells are isolated on ice and cultured in culture medium.

Why Choose CD BioSciences?

As a leading global provider of customized services, CD BioSciences is committed to providing you with high-quality services and innovative products on C. elegans to meet the unused needs of our clients. From project consultation to delivery of results, our experienced scientists are involved throughout the entire process to break through difficulties and advance research progress. If you are interested in our services or have any other questions, please feel free to contact us.

Reference

1. Zhang S, Banerjee D, Kuhn J R. Isolation and culture of larval cells from C. elegans[J]. PloS one, 2011, 6(4): e19505.

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