Are your enzymes animal-free?

Thermolysin and BP Protease are entirely animal origin free. A porcine gelatin peptone is used during the fermentation step of natural collagenase production. While this animal sourced material is required to stimulate collagenase production from the biosynthesis from the organism Clostridium histolyticum during anaerobic fermentation, it represents a very low adventitious agent risk as the

Do I have to supplement the purified collagenase with a protease source?

Yes.  VitaCyte’s collagenase products are chromatographically purified.  The steps utilized in the purification process remove the protease activity that is normally present in the crude and enriched collagenase products from other vendors.  Since collagenases have a high specificity for collagen, a general protease activity is also required to degrade other extracellular matrix proteins and to

Can I substitute the type of protease I use for my application?

Yes.  Selection of a protease in many cases is simply due to the historical precedence of the given cell isolation protocol being followed; however, that is not to say a different one would not work.  The isolation of human islets is a perfect example in which thermolysin, BP Protease (a Dispase equivalent), and C. histolyticum

What is the difference between the Collagenase HA and Collagenase MA products?

Collagenase HA and MA differ only in the amount of truncated class 1 collagenase present. Both are 60%:40% blends of highly purified class 1 (C1) and class 2 collagenase (C2), respectively. The Collagenase MA will have a lower CDA specific activity relative to the HA product, because a portion of the C1 protein in the