When culturing any kind of cells in a laboratory environment, avoiding contamination is always a chief concern. Biological contaminants are often the focus of such efforts, and they also can be the most straight-forward to detect and avoid.

The most popular endotoxin testing option is the Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) assay. In the presence of endotoxins, an enzyme in the assay initiates a clotting cascade, which can be used to quantify endotoxin levels with high precision and sensitivity.

It is recommended to perform regular LAL testing on all cell culture reagents, particularly prior to any large-scale or crucial in vitro experiments. The ease and low cost required for the LAL assay makes it an ideal option for frequent endotoxin testing.

PYROSTAR™ ES-F reagent has features that ensure endotoxin-specific measurements with good endotoxin recoveries of cell culture media and cell therapy products.

• Avoids false positive results from (1→3)-β-D-glucan
• Highly sensitive - Gel clot sensitivities range from 0.015 to 0.25 EU/mL; kinetic turbidimetric quantitative range from 0.001 to 10 EU/mL.
• Dual-purpose reagent can provide robust results by testing both gel clot & kinetic turbidimetric assay (KTA)
• Identical reagent preparation facilitates the transition from qualitative gel clot results to quantitative kinetic results
• Versatility of measurement instrument: can be measured with the compact 4-channel αBET measurement system, the 16-tube Toxinometer® tube reader, or a compatible 96-well microplate reader.

Visit to learn how PYROSTAR™ ES-F meets endotoxin testing needs