XanoMatrix

Traditional flat tissue culture on treated plastic has long been the standard for growing, subculturing and studying cell behavior in vitro. However, increasingly it is becoming important to mimic and modify conditions seen in vivo to better understand cellular interactions. The move to 3-dimensional growth of cells opens the possibility of true 3D migration, invasion and nutrient exchange seen in native tissues. Decellularized tissues (left) reveal a very tortuous, unorganized network of nano- and micro-sized fibers of the extracellular matrix (ECM) that includes collagen, fibronectin, laminin and elastin, to name a few. Synthetic polymeric nanofibers are increasingly being used to imitate these structures for research related to tissue engineering, cancer, stem cell, high-throughput cell culture and regenerative medicine. Nanofibers have an advantage over traditional scaffolds and gels because of their lack of animal-derived products, batch to batch consistency, ability to be shaped to various forms, and structural and size similarity to native tissue. Traditional electrospun nanofibers produce a flat, webbed matrix that on the surface mimics native ECM, but often does not allow deep penetration of cells into the structure. Porous or foamed plastic allow z-axis growth, but still do not create a fibrous surface for the cells to grow more naturally and remodel. XanoMatrix scaffolds are offered pre-loaded in traditional 6-well, 24-well, 48-well and 96-well formats as well as 10″x11″ sheets for custom shapes and sizes. All scaffolds and pre-loaded plates are exposed to gamma radiation in the packaging to ensure sterility. No changes in protocols need to be made for seeding cells or assays for in-well extraction of RNA, DNA or protein. The scaffolds with cells can also easily be removed with forceps for further processing. XanoMatrix is currently made with biocompatible materials PET and cellulose acetate. The scaffolds are 100% synthetic and thus contain no animal-derived substances and ensure batch-to-batch consistency. Instead of using fixed, immobile growth scaffolds with specific holders and wells, the XanoMatrix main offering is a die-cut disc that is easily transferrable to another well with sterile forceps. This enables the ability to establish isolated cultures of cells, and to combine the discs in stacks for co-culture studies. Invasion assays can be achieved through contacting co-culture of the discs, and removing and viewing under confocal microscopy or cryosectioning the invaded scaffold. For advanced or high capacity adhesion cell studies, XanoMatrix is well-suited for various types of bioreactors. Being a flexible substrate, the scaffold can be custom fit to a wide variety of setups, including blood vessel models, perfusion plates and columns, and fixed bed bioreactors.

Xanofi is a unique company in the nanofiber world – we combine a distinctly new platform technology with product co-develop with our corporate partners. In short, we think of ourselves as a skunkworks→partnering/licensing organization. Our contract research to-date has driven innovation in a wide number of markets – filtration, water treatment, life sciences, food and chemical additives – just to name a few.
In the summer of 2014, Xanofi introduced XanoMatrix™ – an exciting next generation 3D cell scaffold substrate. By incorporating staple nanofibers throughout the Z-axis of a substrate, cells have the ability to migrate and reshape the scaffold in new ways. It’s the closest ECM mimic on the market today.
Even more exciting is our ability to customize this material for different applications and different cell lines.