Animal Red Blood Cells (RBCs) derive from whole blood, which is aseptically collected and prepared-to-order from our vivarium. One of Rockland’s key areas of blood product development is sheep RBCs, which are used in a variety of applications, most commonly, Erythrocyte rosetting or E-rosetting.
Rockland produces anti-red blood cell antibodies to human and sheep hosts. Our anti-RBC antibodies can be used in agglutination assays where the clumping of erythrocytes is needed. Hemagglutination occurs when the antibody recognizes exposed surface epitopes of intact red blood cells. These antibodies are essential tools in qualitative in vitro diagnostic tests and are used as standalone tools or as part of POC devices like lateral flow units.
Human Red Blood Cells
Human red blood cells are perishable and are collected and processed upon receipt of your order. Citrated human blood is excellent for the preparation of blood agar plates, titration of complement, adsorption procedures, testing for agglutinins/HA assays, and for the preparation of stroma as particulate reagents.
Ghost Red Blood Cells
Ghost RBCs from Rabbit, Goat, Sheep, and Bovine hosts are also available. Ghost red blood cells derived from normal erythrocytes are used as a model system for the study of biological membranes and phospholipid metabolism, as well as for preparation of drug delivery systems like nanoerythrocytes (NER).
Applications for Red Blood Cells
Processing red blood cells into various types of medicines or products is a highly specialized process. This is because blood products and biological technologies are inherently variable due to the nature of the source materials and the methods used to test them. Rockland's RBC antibodies are produced from a variety of different animal species that demonstrate quality, safety, and repeatable results.
Our animal blood cells can be used in applications such:
- Agglutination assays
- Complement fixation assays
- Bacterial plating assays/sterility testing
- Specialized tissue culture media
- Blood typing
- Virus particle quantification
- Latex fixation tests
- Nephelometry
