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CryostaX® Pooled Plateable Human Hepatocytes

CryostaX® plateable pooled human hepatocytes offer a simple, cost-effective test system for metabolic clearance, hepatic uptake, CYP induction screening, and other preclinical in vitro studies. All of our pooled CryostaX® products are developed with a patented single-freeze process which minimizes cryoinjury and promotes high viability and cell yield.

Preparing your hepatocyte cultures is faster and easier when you use CryostaX®

  • The only single-freeze, pooled plateable human hepatocyte product on the market
  • Patented single-freeze process to minimize cryoinjury
  • Assured Minimum Yield (AMY) of 5 million cells for standard pools
  • Custom on-demand pooling at no additional charge (see form below)
  • Convenient, more efficient thawing process than traditional vial format
  • Pooling technique leads to each donor contributing relatively equally to the pooled population and metabolic activity
  • Extensively characterized for metabolism and uptake transport, with CYP induction (10-Donor Pool)
  • Highly competitive pricing
  • Large lots
  • High-quality data

Utilizing CryostaX® pooled plateable human hepatocytes

CryostaX® human hepatocytes are available as standard pools of 5 or 10 donors or as custom-designed pools (at no additional charge) with donors selected specifically based on individual enzyme activities and/or donor demographics from an inventory of ~100 potential donors. 

Cryoplateable hepatocytes are the closest alternative to using fresh hepatocytes. They are unique in their ability to attach to collagen substratum and can be cultured long enough to respond to prototypical inducers even after being cryogenically frozen. Our products team qualifies every attaching lot for the ability to maintain a confluent monolayer (>85% confluency) in culture for five days, an important criterion for IND-enabling enzyme induction, toxicology, and some low-turnover compound metabolism studies. Additionally, a datasheet detailing optimal seeding density and a photomicrograph of culture accompany each lot shipment for user convenience.

Patented Single-Freeze Pooling Process

Our patented format highlights our commitment to efficiency without sacrifice to quality. Pooled CryostaX®  inherently suffer less cryoinjury than traditional vial format; using our patented technology, hepatocytes undergo only one freeze-thaw cycle rather than two, as is necessary for traditional pooling whereby each individual lot first needs to be thawed, pooled, and then refrozen. Additionally, because each CryostaX® pellet in the pool comes from one donor, pools can be easily customized without the additional thaw and refreeze steps. 

The thawing process is simplified (see Demo Video below) to enable you to go from storage to assay in fewer steps, and our streamlined ordering process gives you all the information you need– including upfront pricing– to choose the perfect lots for your assays.

CryostaX® Custom Pool Request


CryostaX® human hepatocytes are ideal for:

  • Metabolic Stability of Low, Mid & High Clearance Drugs
  • Hepatic Uptake/Efflux Transporter Studies
  • CYP Induction Screening
  • Various In Vitro Hepatotoxicity Endpoints
  • CYP Inhibition Screening
  • Metabolite Identification (MetID)
  • Cell/Molecular Biology
  • Virology

Thawing & Plating Cryopreserved Hepatocytes

With CryostaX®, thawing is simpler and you can have more confidence in plating. Download our protocol or watch the demos below to get the best results from your cryopreserved hepatocytes:

What Else You Should Know About Using CryostaX® in Your Hepatic Culture Assays…

Our hepatocyte expertise stems from decades of preparing these test systems for our own contract research. Utilizing the hepatocytes that we produce in our own contract studies allows an added level to quality control beyond the standard characterization that most hepatocytes vendors provide.

Zell Woodworth, Products Division Director at XENOTECH

Each CryostaX® lot is characterized for the following activity:

Enzyme MARKER SUBSTRATE REACTION
CYP1A2 Phenacetin O-dealkylation
CYP2B6 Bupropion hydroxylation
CYP2C8 Amodiaquine N-dealkylation
CYP2C9 Tolbutamide
CYP2C19 S-Mephenytoin 4′-hydroxylation
CYP2D6 Dextromethorphan O-demethylation
CYP3A4/5 Midazolam 1′-hydroxylation
UGT 7-Hydroxycoumarin glucuronidation
SULT 7-Hydroxycoumarin sulfonation
OATP1B1 Esterone sulfate
OATB1B3 CCK-8
OCT1 MPP+
NTCP TCA

*Intrinsic clearance data is also included

An example of no-charge custom pooling of CryostaX® is shown below. XenoTech scientists have access to an extensive list of individually characterized (demographics, medical history, gender, pathology, etc.) donors from which to design custom pools to meet your specific needs. By using the individual characterization data it is possible to calculate the theoretical enzymatic activity, providing a quick snapshot of the designed pool’s overall activities.

Cryostax Theoretical Activity vs Actual

Match your test systems with the right media

Our formulas are optimized to give you the best results from your plated hepatocytes.

In vitro pipette test article treatment

Custom Pooling

Find complete list of characterization assays, quality assurance details, typical timeline for preparations, and more

Subcellular fraction test systems preparation