A wide range of analytical techniques can be used to measure the various properties of a protein, such as the size, charge, amino acid composition and hydrophobicity. Confirmation of the purity of growth factors by several varied techniques ensures reliability of results. When shopping for growth factors look for products where purity has been [...]

It is very hard to determine the activity of a growth factor as they have a large range of potential effects. A luciferase reporter assay is used to quantify the response of transfected cells to a growth factor by assaying the expression of luciferase (the reporter gene). As the biological activity of a growth [...]

Growth factors can be synthesised in prokaryotic cells, most commonly E. coli, or eukaryotic cells, using cell lines such as human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells or Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. There are benefits to each of these cell sources. Proteins produced from prokaryotic sources generally have less lot-to-lot variability and higher purity [...]