Happy Cell®ASM FAQ

Happy Cell® ASM is a unique, low viscosity cell culture medium designed by a scientist for use by scientists.  It meets all the requirements laboratories in the drug discovery world are demanding – that is, it is cost effective, scalable, rapidly deployable and simple to use as well as being  compatible with automation with minimal human Intervention.

Happy Cell® features a unique modified natural inert polymer suspension system that can be de-activated allowing for analysis and recovery of cell and tissue samples.
It is supplied at and should be used at, ambient temperature.

Never freeze Happy Cell® ASM

Happy Cell® ASM is supplied as a 4X concentrate. Currently, it is only available as a 25 mL volume. This is sufficient for 1000 experiments using a 1X concentration in a 96 well plate.

Happy Cell® ASM should be stored at 2-8°C and never frozen. Under these conditions it is stable until the expiry date on the packaging. It can be shipped at ambient temperature.

Yes, Happy Cell® ASM contains Penicillin-Streptomycin (Gibco, Catalogue number 15140122) at a final concentration of 1%.

If you are interested in the possibility of obtaining Happy Cell® ASM without antibiotic please contact us to discuss. Simply email enquiries@valelifesciences.com with your question(s) and contact details and we will get back to you.

Happy Cell® ASM does not contain any growth factors. Additional supplements, such as growth factors and FBS, can be added by the end user at their desired concentration.

Happy Cell® ASM does not present an obstacle to most fluorescence-based assays.

It is normally supplied with Phenol red included in the media but can be formulated in Phenol Red-free media if desired and specifically requested.

Happy Cell ASM is supplied as a 4X concentrate and is readily diluted to the required working concentration with standard cell culture medium and desired additives.

A 1X concentration is appropriate for most applications, however, depending on the cell line in question, spheroids will grow at different rates and to different sizes and densities. Therefore, a higher concentration of Happy Cell ASM may be required to support larger spheroids and maintain cellular suspension.

Happy Cell® ASM can be dispensed at any temperature above 4° C. However, for ease, we recommend warming Happy Cell® ASM to room temperature (18 – 22° C) prior to dispensing.

Cells can be cultured indefinitely in Happy Cell® ASM once they are appropriately maintained.

Cells in Happy Cell ASM do not require agitation in order to form 3D structures. If culturing in 50 mL bioreactors, however, we do recommend inverting the bioreactor gently twice post cell feeding. This is to allow the fresh Happy Cell ASM to mix with that already in the bioreactor and to facilitate the even distribution of essential nutrients to all cells.

The duration of time taken to observe spheroid formation in Happy Cell® ASM and for spheroids to reach a certain size varies between cell lines.

Typically, 3D structures will begin to form within 24 hours of seeding.

We recommended regular sampling and microscopic observation of cultures to monitor spheroid growth.

Spheroids are easily harvested from Happy Cell® ASM using the inactivation solution.

See the product information guide for suggested protocol.

Spheroid disassembly or disaggregation, can be achieved either by treating the spheroids with Accutase Solution (Merck-Sigma)  or with Trypsin/ EDTA for 20 min at 37 °C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2.

The disaggregation can be enhanced by periodically back pipetting every 10 minutes until cells are fully liberated.

Yes, Happy Cell® ASM has been formulated to be compatible with imaging systems.

Spheroids in suspension can be viewed with light microscopes.

For imaging, we recommend using the Inactivation Solution to sediment spheroids to the vessel imaging surface. From here, cells can be imaged directly, stained, washed, fixed, etc.

Vale low attachment plates are also produced from imaging quality materials.

Yes, once spheroids are treated with the inactivation solution, they can be harvested, transferred to a centrifuge tube, pelleted, and treated as you would 2D cultures. Alternatively, you could culture spheroids in 50mL bioreactor tubes and perform inactivation and centrifugation in these vessels

For optimal Happy Cell® ASM performance we recommend using low attachment culture vessels such as the 50 mL bioreactors and 96 well plates supplied by Vale Life Sciences.

Yes, all bioreactors supplied by Vale Life Sciences are sterile at the time of shipping.

Yes, please visit our publications section, via this link

If stored correctly (2-8°C) Happy Cell® ASM Inactivation Solution is suitable for use until the expiry date on the outer packaging.