The handling of Matrigel can be tricky especially for first time users. You may find these tips and tricks useful.
- Thaw Matrigel at 4 °C overnight (or at least 3 hours) before use. Matrigel can be handled more easily when it is completely thawed.
- Keep Matrigel on ice at all times as Matrigel starts polymerizing quickly at room temperature. Chilled pipette tips help reduce the coating of Matrigel on the surface of the tips and delay the polymerization during pipetting.
- Do not dilute Matrigel by more than 50% (or less than 5 mg/ml) if it is to be used to form a 3D matrix in the gel channel. Matrigel at a concentration of 10 mg/ml to 12 mg/ml can be used without dilution to form a 3D matrix in AIM chips.
- Fill Matrigel into the gel channel as rapidly as possible to avoid the blocking of channel by polymerized gel, especially if the Matrigel is used undiluted.