Lab Expectations

Apoptosis is a highly regulated form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms during development, throughout the lifespan, and in response to cellular stress. Nuclear condensation, cell shrinkage, membrane blebbing, and DNA fragmentation are characteristic features of the cellular disassembly that occurs during this form of cell death. A family of proteolytic enzymes, called caspases, serves as the central regulators of apoptosis, and their activity, in turn, is balanced by myriad additional pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic proteins. The dysregulation of apoptosis occurs in and contributes to the pathology of several disease states, including autoimmune disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. Therefore, understanding how and why apoptosis influences these biological processes may lead to advances in therapies to treat and benefit human health.

The production of new cells through cellular proliferation impacts the development, growth, and maintenance of all tissues in the body. This process must be tightly regulated, since uncontrolled cell division – as seen in various cancers – can lead to tumor formation and disrupt organ function. These broad implications for biological activities highlight the importance of understanding and accurately measuring cellular proliferation in a variety of contexts.

The health of cells in culture is critical to the success of your experiments. Have you ever been excited about the experimental results of a knock-down, drug treatment, or culture condition, only to realize later that the effects are skewed due to the amount of cell death that occurred in your samples? Measuring and comparing cell viability in your assays is important, whether it’s the data you’re pursuing or an important control in your experiment.

Fibrosis is a disease that is characterized by scarring and hardening of tissues and organs. Fibrosis can affect all tissues of the body, and left unchecked, can result in organ failure and death. What causes it? Believe it or not, it is a process that stems from wound healing that has gone awry.

In order to quickly defeat SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2，previously named as nCoV) and stop the epidemic, diagnosis and treatment are especially important. As of January 31, 2020, SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection kits from 7 companies have been approved for SARS-CoV-2 detection (data source: NMPA). Meanwhile, researchers are still working hard to develop effective treatments.

If you haven’t heard already, it’s CST’s 20^th anniversary. Woohoo! You could say this year is kind of a big deal for us. We have a lot to celebrate. However, once we started listing the successes over the years, we realized that we are most proud of what you – the researchers worldwide – have accomplished using our reagents. After all, we don’t live in a vacuum. We exist to serve you and enable important discoveries and the development of cures.

Not all cancer cells are equal, they evolve in response to selective pressure driven by accumulation of mutations. Cancer cells have to out-compete nearby cells for nutrients and other resources, avoid immune cell attack, and suppress apoptotic self-destruction.

Cancer cells hijack inflammatory mechanisms to promote their own growth and survival. During a normal inflammatory response by the innate and adaptive immune system, immune cells carry out their designated task of engulfing and/or destroying foreign invaders.

Gain insight into the processes by which senescent cells contribute to tumor suppression and age-related pathologies. This webinar explores the impact of senescence on age-related dysfunction and chronic disease and introduces potential therapies targeting senescent cells.

Cancer cells invade local tissue and spread to distant sites via two distinct, but similar processes known as invasion and metastasis.