Frequently Asked Questions

Storage at -80°C is not sufficient for long-term preservation of primary cells and causes irreversible cell damage. Please store them in liquid nitrogen (< -150°C).

Our Normal Human Cells should be cultured at 37°C and 5% CO₂ in a humidified atmosphere. Please note: If using cell culture flasks w/o filter cap, unscrew the cap by half a turn to allow for sufficient ventilation.

“Normal” means that the cells in question were freshly isolated from non-tumor tissue. They have a finite life span in vitro. They have neither been genetically modified nor treated and/or selected to produce a continuous cell line. “Normal” cells are primary cells that have been sub-cultured at least once.

Our cell culture media “ready-to-use” consist of basal medium and a pre-mixed SupplementMix where all supplements are already combined with the medium. Our culture media kits consist of basal medium and SupplementPack with supplements in separate vials. The addition of our supplements (SupplementMix or SupplementPack, respectively) to the appropriate basal medium will result in an identical growth media.

A population doubling (PD) is a two-fold increase in the total number of cells during in vitro-culture. Calculating the number of PDs a culture has performed at a certain point gives an accurate measure of its age. In contrast, the term passage merely refers to the subculturing process, i.e. the detachment of the cells from a culture vessel (e.g. using Trypsin/EDTA or Accutase) and replating them at a lower density to allow for further cell growth. The term passage does not take into account the different split ratios that can be applied. Different split ratios produce cultures with an identical number of passages but a varying number of doublings. Passage is therefore only a rough estimate of the actual age of a culture.

CoAs can be downloaded from our Certificate of Analysis page. Simply enter the lot number and click the search icon.

EQ certificates for Excipient GMP-grade PromoExQ media can be downloaded from our EQ Certificates page. Simply enter the lot number and click the search icon.

Unless otherwise stated, our human primary cells are derived from single donors. The donor’s age, sex, and ethnicity are specified in the lot-specific Certificate of Analysis. For a few selected cell types, we also supply cells from pooled donors. These include HUVEC pooled (C-12203/C-12253) HUVEC 2 pooled (C-12208/C-12209), NHEK pooled (C-12005/C-12007, C-12006/C-12008), and NHEK GM3 pooled (C-12015/C-12017, C-12016/C-12018).

In our SupplementMix, all growth supplements are pre-mixed in one tube. In the SupplementPack, all growth supplements come in separate vials. For additional information please visit our cell culture media page.

Our cell culture media are optimized for in vitro-culture of human cells. In most cases, they can also be used for cells from several other species (e.g. rat, mouse, bovine, and porcine cells). To view a list of references where our media were used with other species/cell types, please download our "Species and Cell Types" brochure

Once you have added the supplements to the basal medium, the shelf life is 6 weeks at 4°C (with a few exceptions). The stability of the complete media is specified in the respective Instruction Manual (“Storage and stability”). Avoid repeated heating of the media to 37°C as this may lead to significantly reduced media performance due to an accelerated decomposition of temperature-sensitive compounds.

The shelf life of the majority of our basal media is 9 months from the date of manufacture when stored between 4°C – 8°C. The shelf life of the supplements is 12 months from the date of manufacture when stored at -20°C. The exact expiry date is specified on the product label and in the Certificate of Analysis.

For specific marker details, see the Instruction Manual of each respective cell type or view the Certificate of Analysis.

Follow the protocols included in the respective cell manual to learn more about best practices for primary cell culture.

We do not recommend a split ratio for Normal Human Cells because the cell yield varies from lab to lab. We recommend to count the cells after trypsinization and to replate them at 5,000-10,000 cells/cm². The precise recommended plating density for each cell type may be found in the Instruction Manual.

Our cryopreserved cells are frozen in Cryo-SFM (# C-29910, discontinued) or Cryo-SFM Plus (C-29920/C-29922) and are shipped on dry ice (for details, refer to the Certificate of Analysis). After delivery, they must be transferred into liquid nitrogen (for further storage at < -150°C), or they may be thawed and directly seeded into an appropriate tissue culture vessel using the recommended Growth Media. Proliferating cells are thawed at PromoCell and shipped as growing cultures in T25 flasks.

There is no general recommendation regarding the passage number at which to perform your experiments. This depends on the cell type as well as on the type of experiment. Most scientists don’t exceed passage 4 to 6 when using normal cells for their experiments as the cells gradually change their phenotype in vitro. If a certain phenotype is essential for your experiments, you should run expression controls at regular intervals to ensure that the markers are still sufficiently expressed in your cells.

For optimal cell growth, we recommend to refrain from using antibiotics. Most primary or normal human cells show reduced growth rates in the presence of antibiotics. In some cases, when a sterile environment is not 100% ensured, it may be advisable to add antibiotics to the media to protect the culture from potential microbial infections.

Yes, all tissues used by PromoCell for the isolation of human cells are derived from donors who have signed an informed consent form (either by the donor himself, a legal guardian, or next-of-kin). PromoCell consistently upholds the highest ethical standards.

PromoCell consistently upholds the highest ethical standards. We encourage customers to support this effort by using coded identifiers such as “Donor 1”, “Donor 2”, etc., instead of lot numbers when publishing data derived from cells. This practice enhances donor privacy and helps limit identifying information, which is of increased importance in an era of heightened data connectivity through artificial intelligence.

PromoCell online shop
Credit card and invoice payment are possible.
You first need to create an account and are able to subsequently log in for all future orders.

• Online ordering is available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
• Our online ordering system is secure, fast, and convenient.

Email
Credit card and invoice payment are possible.
Send an email to [email protected].
For faster service, provide the following information:

• Catalog number, product name and size and quantity
• Billing and shipping address
• Name and phone number of contact person

Fax
Credit card and invoice payment are possible.

• USA/Canada: 1- 866 - 827 - 9219 (toll free)
• Deutschland: 0800 - 100 83 06 (gebührenfrei)
• France: 0800 90 27 36 (ligne verte)
• United Kingdom: 0800 - 169 85 54 (toll free)

If your country is not listed, you should contact your local distributor.

Yes, if you order via our online ordering system, or by email or fax, you will receive an order confirmation from our Ordering Department if you have provided your email address on the order. If you do not receive an order confirmation, contact our Customer Service

For information on your order status, you should directly contact our Customer Service.

The following information is necessary to correctly process your order via email or fax: shipping address, billing address, a contact person’s name and phone number, as well as the catalog number(s), size, and quantity of all products you wish to order. Clearly indicate your customer number, reservation, purchase order (PO) number and/or quotation number (ANxxxxx), if you have any.

Yes, before shipment it is possible to change or cancel orders. To do this, contact our Customer Service directly with the changes you require. Note: Changes are only possible before the order has shipped, and only quantities or additional items may be modified.

Yes. Your existing cell lot reservation number may be entered under “notes/comments” during checkout.

Yes. Indicate the desired product lot number under “notes/comments” during checkout.

Our prices quoted online and in our current price list are net prices. VAT (value added tax) is not included and will be charged according to the applicable laws at the time of the order.

Yes, you may indicate your VAT number during checkout.

A reference to an existing individual quote may be entered in the “notes/comments” field during checkout. . Our online shop does not currently update the quote total. However, all quote requests are processed individually by our staff and your individual quote will be applied when processing your order. Based on the selected payment method, you will either receive an invoice with the correct individually quoted amount or alternatively the correct individually quoted amount will be charged to your credit card.

Individual quotes may be entered in the “notes/comments” field during checkout. All quote requests are processed individually by our staff and your individual quote will be applied when processing your order. Based on the selected payment method, you will either receive an invoice with the correct individually quoted amount or alternatively the correct individually quoted amount will be charged to your credit card.

Yes. To do this, indicate all respective quotation numbers for the products in your order in the “notes/comments” field during checkout.

Yes, you may send a request via our bulk request form.

Enter your promotional code during check-out in the discount code field and click “Add discount code”. The discount will be applied.

No, only one promo code may be applied per order.

Please use the online quote request functionality or contact Customer Service by phone, email or chat.

We offer two payment options. You may either pay with credit card (Visa, Mastercard, and American Express) through Stripe or via bank transfer (Purchase on Account).

Our payment terms can be found in our Terms and Conditions.

Payment by credit card can be selected during checkout and is offered through Stripe.

There could be several reasons for a payment failure. The most common are:

• a billing error caused by your bank
• a change in your billing address
• insufficient credit on your account
• your credit card has expired

Review your billing and credit card information again and retry payment. If the error persists, please contact your bank to resolve the authorization issue. At any time you may complete your order using the alternative payment option “Purchase on Account”.

Contact our Customer Service for instructions.

Contact our Customer Service.

All cells are shipped from our headquarters in Germany. The cryo-preserved vials are shipped with sufficient dry ice. For some countries, when delivery within 3-4 days is not guaranteed, we ship our cells in vapor shippers. Upon receipt of the cells, immediately store them in liquid nitrogen until they are thawed and seeded. We have shipped cryo-preserved cells to countries all over the world. If they are thawed according to our protocol, viabilities are achieved as specified in the CoA (≥70%).

Our proliferating cultures are generally dispatched on Mondays (delivery on Tuesday) and on Thursdays (delivery on Friday). Proliferating cells are shipped only to destinations where express delivery within 24 hours is guaranteed.

The following shipping costs will be charged, irrespective of the total amount of your order:

• Germany, Denmark, Austria, Metropolitan France, Monaco: EUR 46,--
• United Kingdom: GBP 40,--
• USA, Canada: USD 84,--
• Switzerland: CHF 82,--
• Rest of the world: Inquire here.

We ship directly to Germany, France, Monaco, Denmark, Austria, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the United States and Canada. In addition, we have distributors in more than 40 countries worldwide. You may find the latest distributor information under Contact us.

Proliferating cells are shipped in T25 flasks filled with Growth Medium and together with warm packs (37°C) that keep the cells warm for several hours during transport. The flasks usually arrive at room temperature and should be placed in the incubator for 3 hours before changing the media or subculturing the cells. Proliferating cultures are shipped only to countries where 24-hour delivery is guaranteed.