Human Renal Relevance. Predictable Preclinical Outcomes.
Don't just screen compounds—predict human kidney safety with certainty.
For the cutting-edge pharmacology, toxicology, and drug discovery labs at HKU, CUHK, HKUST, PolyU, and Hong Kong Science Park, Cell4Pharma is the premier partner for overcoming preclinical nephrotoxicity bottlenecks. Alpha Labs Limited brings you their globally validated portfolio of conditionally immortalized human renal proximal tubule epithelial cells (ciPTEC), high-dynamic-range ABC transporter membrane vesicle kits, and specialized ADME-Tox CRO services.
Whether you are investigating drug-induced kidney injury (DIKI), characterizing renal clearance pathways, or building 3D microfluidic kidney-on-a-chip platforms, Cell4Pharma’s models are engineered for researchers who refuse to settle for poor animal-to-human translation or rapidly dedifferentiating primary cells. From stable endogenous transporter expression to ready-to-use vesicular transport assays, we provide the physiological tools to de-risk your pipeline early.
Core Product Lines & Specialized Applications
1. Human Renal Cell Lines: ciPTEC Platform (14.4, OAT1 & OAT3)
2. Assay-Ready Renal Cells (96-Well & 384-Well Formats)
3. ABC Transporter Membrane Vesicle Kits
For the cutting-edge pharmacology, toxicology, and drug discovery labs at HKU, CUHK, HKUST, PolyU, and Hong Kong Science Park, Cell4Pharma is the premier partner for overcoming preclinical nephrotoxicity bottlenecks. Alpha Labs Limited brings you their globally validated portfolio of conditionally immortalized human renal proximal tubule epithelial cells (ciPTEC), high-dynamic-range ABC transporter membrane vesicle kits, and specialized ADME-Tox CRO services.
Whether you are investigating drug-induced kidney injury (DIKI), characterizing renal clearance pathways, or building 3D microfluidic kidney-on-a-chip platforms, Cell4Pharma’s models are engineered for researchers who refuse to settle for poor animal-to-human translation or rapidly dedifferentiating primary cells. From stable endogenous transporter expression to ready-to-use vesicular transport assays, we provide the physiological tools to de-risk your pipeline early.
Core Product Lines & Specialized Applications
1. Human Renal Cell Lines: ciPTEC Platform (14.4, OAT1 & OAT3)
- Temperature-Switch Immortalization: Engineered with temperature-sensitive SV40t and hTERT, ciPTEC cells proliferate rapidly at 33°C and differentiate into mature, non-proliferating human proximal tubule monolayers upon shifting to 37°C.
- Complete Transporter Functionality: Retains stable endogenous expression of key renal transporters (OCT2, P-gp, BCRP, MRP4) across more than 20 passages, alongside stably transfected ciPTEC-OAT1 and ciPTEC-OAT3 lines for comprehensive anion and cation transport studies.
- Peer-Reviewed Reliability: Validated across 90+ peer-reviewed publications and pharmaceutical collaborations, delivering high sensitivity and specificity for predicting human tubular toxicity.
2. Assay-Ready Renal Cells (96-Well & 384-Well Formats)
- Skip Routine Cell Culture: Delivered cryopreserved or pre-seeded to eliminate weeks of expansion and maintenance—simply thaw, mature, and run your screen.
- High-Throughput Screening (HTS) Compatible: Validated for 96-well and 384-well plates with minimal well-to-well and inter-laboratory variation, ideal for multi-parametric high-content imaging and biomarker detection.
- 3D Organ-on-a-Chip Ready: Proven performance in perfused microfluidic platforms and hollow-fiber bioreactors to form polarized, leak-tight renal tubules with primary cilia and tight junctions (ZO-1).
3. ABC Transporter Membrane Vesicle Kits
- Unmatched Dynamic Range: Inside-out membrane vesicles isolated from HEK293 cells with guaranteed ATP/AMP transport ratios—including P-gp / MDR1 (ratio over 5), BSEP (ratio over 10), MRP2 (ratio over 20), BCRP, MRP1, MRP3, MRP4, MRP5, and MRP8.
- Complete 100-Reaction Kits: Each kit comes with large, uniform batches of membrane vesicles alongside matched ATP solution, AMP solution, assay buffer, and stop/wash buffer for immediate benchtop execution.
- Flexible Readout Compatibility: Quantify substrate uptake or drug-drug interaction (DDI) inhibition seamlessly via fluorescence, LC-MS, or radiolabel detection.
Need a quote, cell line licensing details, or a technical protocol for Cell4Pharma products? WhatsApp us at +852 9662 0635 for immediate local support.
Superior renal modeling starts with a physiologically relevant basement membrane. When culturing ciPTEC monolayers or building 3D perfused kidney tubules, pair your cells with BioLamina's Biolaminin® human recombinant laminin matrices or TheWell Bioscience's VitroGel® xeno-free hydrogels to maximize epithelial polarization and transporter expression.
Superior renal modeling starts with a physiologically relevant basement membrane. When culturing ciPTEC monolayers or building 3D perfused kidney tubules, pair your cells with BioLamina's Biolaminin® human recombinant laminin matrices or TheWell Bioscience's VitroGel® xeno-free hydrogels to maximize epithelial polarization and transporter expression.
F&Q Section
Q: How does the temperature-sensitive switch work when culturing ciPTEC cells?
A: ciPTEC cells are expanded at 33°C (5% CO2), where the temperature-sensitive SV40 large T antigen keeps them actively proliferating. Once seeded at confluence for your assay, shifting the incubator to 37°C for 7 days inactivates the SV40t antigen, halting proliferation and allowing the cells to differentiate into a polarized, tight-junction-forming proximal tubule monolayer with stable transporter activity.
Q: Why choose ciPTEC-OAT1 and ciPTEC-OAT3 over primary human renal proximal tubule cells (hRPTEC) or HEK293 cells?
A: Primary hRPTECs rapidly lose organic anion transporter (OAT1/OAT3) expression within a few days in vitro and suffer from high donor-to-donor variability, while HEK293 cells only express single transfected transporters without renal metabolic machinery. ciPTEC-OAT1 and ciPTEC-OAT3 retain the complete human renal proximal tubule machinery—expressing endogenous OCT2, P-gp, BCRP, and MRP4 alongside functional OAT1 or OAT3 for over 20 passages.
Q: What is included in a standard Cell4Pharma ABC Transporter Vesicle Kit?
A: Each standard Vesicle Kit contains all reagents required for 100 transport reactions: characterized inside-out HEK293 membrane vesicles (with a guaranteed minimum ATP/AMP transport ratio on the Certificate of Analysis), ATP solution, AMP control solution, transport assay buffer, and ice-cold stop/wash buffer.
A: ciPTEC cells are expanded at 33°C (5% CO2), where the temperature-sensitive SV40 large T antigen keeps them actively proliferating. Once seeded at confluence for your assay, shifting the incubator to 37°C for 7 days inactivates the SV40t antigen, halting proliferation and allowing the cells to differentiate into a polarized, tight-junction-forming proximal tubule monolayer with stable transporter activity.
Q: Why choose ciPTEC-OAT1 and ciPTEC-OAT3 over primary human renal proximal tubule cells (hRPTEC) or HEK293 cells?
A: Primary hRPTECs rapidly lose organic anion transporter (OAT1/OAT3) expression within a few days in vitro and suffer from high donor-to-donor variability, while HEK293 cells only express single transfected transporters without renal metabolic machinery. ciPTEC-OAT1 and ciPTEC-OAT3 retain the complete human renal proximal tubule machinery—expressing endogenous OCT2, P-gp, BCRP, and MRP4 alongside functional OAT1 or OAT3 for over 20 passages.
Q: What is included in a standard Cell4Pharma ABC Transporter Vesicle Kit?
A: Each standard Vesicle Kit contains all reagents required for 100 transport reactions: characterized inside-out HEK293 membrane vesicles (with a guaranteed minimum ATP/AMP transport ratio on the Certificate of Analysis), ATP solution, AMP control solution, transport assay buffer, and ice-cold stop/wash buffer.
