TransFix/EDTA Vacuum Blood Collection Tubes (TVTs)

TVTs are now available in a convenient 2-tube pack presentation for in vitro diagnostic (IVD) use in the USA.

TransFix/EDTA Vacuum Blood Collection Tubes (TVTs) are intended for collection and storage of human whole blood specimens for immunophenotyping of white blood cells by flow cytometry.

Now, IVD TransFix/EDTA Vacuum Blood Collection Tubes are available in a convenient 2-tube pack presentation, as well as 50-tube packs.

Learn more about this TransFix product.

• Replace your discontinued antibodies– with discount available for valid replacement.
• Share your review – write about your experience using an MBLI product and receive an award. Terms and Conditions apply.
• Claim your free 2 pack TransFix – with the purchase of our ExoCap kit.

COLLABORATE WITH MBLI

Partnering with pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and diagnostics companies to out-license our innovative technologies and products supporting life science research, develop companion diagnostics and in-license IVD technologies/products in the areas of cancer, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, allergy and cytological/pathological testing.

MBL International will be attending:

• July 29 – Aug 2 AACC 2018 in Chicago
• November 7 – 11 SITC 2018 in Washington, DC

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Press Release

JSR’s Life Sciences Division Appoints New CEO for MBL International

Jan. 23, 2018 – Sunnyvale, CA – JSR Life Sciences, the life sciences-focused business unit of JSR Corporation, announced today that it has appointed Dr. Nalini Murdter as the President and Chief Executive Officer of MBL International (MBLI) effective immediately.

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May 22nd, 2017: MEDICAL & BIOLOGICAL LABORATORIES Co., Ltd. (MBL) announced that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with the p53 Laboratory, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore to establish the novel screening technology which accelerates the drug discovery targeting Protein-Protein Interactions (PPIs).

February 28th, 2017: MEDICAL & BIOLOGICAL LABORATORIES Co., Ltd. concludes a patent licensing agreement with the University of Toyama concerning a rapid antibody production technique

• ELISA Kits and Antibodies – 2 new ELISA kits and new antibodies, along with 134 trial size antibodies now available
• Fluoppi Protein-Protein Interaction – Visualize and Screen PPI’s with 18 new pre-made vector sets of popular oncology targets
• Next-Generation Nano Culture Plates – 3D Cell Culture plates for tumor modeling and other applications, easy to use with improved imaging
• TransFix® – A patented stabilization solution that is easy to use and preserves cells and cellular antigens for up to 14 days prior to analysis

• Which tetramers can be used for my mouse samples?

  Tue, 28 Aug 2018 17:00:00 GMTBy: nakajo.tomohiro@mbl.co.jp (Tomohiro Nakajo)

  The thymus shapes a host’s T-cell repertoire so they do not respond to “self” antigens, yet are able to recognize “non-self” antigen challenges (from pathogens and tumors). T cell participation in these immune responses are dependent on interaction with peptide- and self-MHC. In other words, T cells only recognize the peptides derived from cancers or pathogens if they are embedded in the cleft of self host MHC grooves. Such peptides are processed and presented on the surface of antigen-presenting cells (MHC class I and II in dendritic cells, macrophages, and B cells) or all nucleated cells (MHC class I) allowing T cells to identify infected or cancer cells. Direct detection of such Ag-specific T cells and functional analysis is important for understanding disease immunopathogenesis and the process of drug development. MBL International has had tremendous success in advancing the methodologies to accurately measure antigen-specific T cells. 
  Peptide-MHC (pMHC) tetramers bind T cells with an off-rate >1000 fold slower than that of pMHC monomers, thus making MHC tetramers the gold standard reagent for direct measurement of Ag-specific T cells. MHC tetramers enable direct detection of allele-specific and antigen-specific T cells at a single cell level for flow cytometry or mass cytometry analysis. It is important to note the MHC allelic restriction to determine the right MHC tetramers for your studies. Tetramers should be selected so the allele matches with your system. For example, if cells are derived from C57BL/6, you should choose tetramers of H-2Kb or H-2Db for class I, or I-Ab for class II. An example is shown below.  The product code is shown along with the tetramer name, allele information, the target antigen (TRP2, which is a melanoma antigen), peptide sequence (in the context of H-2 kb MHC), and fluorescent conjugate (we carry other fluorochromes as well, in case you want to use a different one).
  Code #: TB-5004-1, Product name: iTAg Tetramer/PE – H-2Kb TRP2 (SVYDFFVWL)
  For MHC tetramers in human studies, you should verify the HLA typing of the persons whose samples are being assayed.   This information is typically supplied by vendors but if not, such MHC allele information can be determined using PCR or flow cytometry.
  As far as mouse MHC alleles, here, we have simplified the commonly used strains and alleles of MHC class I and II.   In this blog, we have a summary introduction of mouse allele information for customers including those who are using MHC tetramers for the first time. The table below indicates MHC allele information of commonly used mouse strains.

  Next is allele information of popular transgenic mouse models and matching tetramer products, biotinylated monomers and peptides. 

  Tg mouse
  Allele
  Antigen
  Tetramer code #
  Biotinylated Monomer code #
  Peptide code #

  OT-I
  H-2Kb
  OVA257-264 SIINFEKL
  PE: TB-5001-1 APC: TB-5001-2 BV421: TB-5001-4
  TB-5001-M
  SP5001

  OT-II
  I-Ab
  OVA323-339              ISQAVHAAHAEINEAGR 
  PE: TS-M710-1 APC: TS-M710-2
   
   

  Pmel-1
  H-2Db
  Human gp10025-33             KVPRNQDWL
  PE: TB-M505-1 APC: TB-M505-2 BV421: TB-M505-4
  TB-M505-M
  SPM505

   
  These are transgenic mice engineered with T cell receptors that bind specifically to a given peptide sequence complexed with the appropriate MHC protein. Ovalbumin (OVA) is a T cell-dependent antigen commonly used as a model protein for studying antigen specific immune response in mice. Pmel-1, also called Pmel-17, is widely used as mouse melanoma model.
  If you are in need of finding out your mouse allele, or have any other questions with starting your tetramer experiments, don’t hesitate to contact us. We can help you based on our long experience of developing and manufacturing tetramers. Read more

• Learn why IL-18 is an exciting biomarker for various diseases

  Tue, 31 Jul 2018 17:00:00 GMTBy: nakajo.tomohiro@mbl.co.jp (Tomohiro Nakajo)

  As described in previous blog posts, our IL-18 related products are used widely among researchers around the world. IL-18 plays an important role in the cytokine network. Abnormal values of IL-18 are seen in various disease areas such as allergy or autoimmune diseases. 
  In this blog, we discuss two diseases correlated with IL-18. Neither of them are allergy or autoimmune diseases, but very interesting nonetheless.
  •Acute kidney injury (AKI)
  Urine IL-18 levels become higher in AKI. This was first reported by the research group comprised of Yale University, University of Colorado, and Harvard Medical School in 20051. Before this, serum creatinine was used routinely to diagnose AKI.  However, because several days are required to detect changes in creatinine, there were many cases of missed therapeutic intervention. Also creatinine measurements can be nonspecific as they can occur as a result of several non-renal factors. This research group measured IL-18 levels in urine samples using MBL International’s human IL-18 ELISA kit (7620) and reported that IL-18 levels were significantly different at 24 and 48 hours before AKI in patients with the disease as compared with control patients. Currently, many researchers continue to evaluate IL-18 as one of the diagnostic biomarker possibilities for AKI. (PMID: 16148039).
  •Multiple myeloma (MM)
  It is known that serum IL-18 levels become higher in MM patients. Recently, these mechanisms were reported by an Australian research group.2 They reported that MM niche cells-derived IL-18 accelerate generation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), followed by the proliferated MDSCs inhibiting T cells to attack MM cells, and finally MM cells proliferate and disease progression is accelerated. In this report, high levels of bone marrow plasma IL-18 are associated with poor overall survival in MM patients. Furthermore, they report that anti-IL-18 antibody has the possibility of becoming a treatment for those patients. (PMID: 29551594). It is very interesting to learn that IL-18 inhibits T cells to attack MM cells indirectly. Future research is sure to have even more exciting discoveries!
  There are many other diseases where IL-18 is found to have a critical role or function. MBL International is eagerly looking forward to the progress of future IL-18 biomarker research as a provider of high quality IL-18 ELISA kits and associated products.
  References

  Parikh CR. et al., Urine IL-18 Is an Early Diagnostic Marker for Acute Kidney Injury and Predicts Mortality in the Intensive Care Unit. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol., 16, 3046-52 (2005), PMID: 16148039
  Nakamura K. et al., Dysregulated IL-18 Is a Key Driver of Immunosuppression and a Possible Therapeutic Target in the Multiple Myeloma Microenvironment. Cancer Cell, 33, 634-48 (2018), PMID: 29551594 Read more

• Improve your neutralization using monoclonal IL-18 antibodies

  Tue, 19 Jun 2018 17:00:00 GMTBy: nakajo.tomohiro@mbl.co.jp (Tomohiro Nakajo)

  Interleukin-18 (IL-18) is a member of the IL-1 superfamily and synthesized as an inactive precursor that requires processing by caspase-1 to become an active cytokine. IL-18 plays a major role in the production of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) from T cells and natural killer cells. Refresh your memory by reviewing a couple of previous blog posts. Read more

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