TruCulture
A Whole Blood Collection and Culture Tube for Standardized Functional Immunophenotyping Procedures
TruCulture tubes are designed to capture immune cell activity at the time and place of sample collection, thereby minimizing the bias and variability introduced by sample shipping and manipulation. These revolutionary tubes consist of an integrated whole-blood collection and leukocyte culture system that is reliable, simple to use and does not require specialized laboratory equipment. TruCulture enables researchers to reproducibly ascertain information about immune responses to stress or stimulation, including responses to novel therapeutics. The ex vivo TruCulture procedure preserves physiological cellular interactions to more accurately reflect the complexities of the human immune system, bringing added value to immune monitoring in clinical trials.
TruCulture Procedure
TruCulture tubes are pre-loaded with cell culture media and immune stimulant(s) or drug candidates. Blood is drawn directly into the TruCulture tube and incubated in a dry heat block. Supernatants are collected by simply inserting a valve separator to separate cells from the culture supernatant.

01. COLLECT
Draw 1 mL of blood directly into the TruCulture Tube and break off the plunger.

02. MIX
Gently invert tube to mix 3 to 5 times

03. INCUBATE
Place tube in 37ºC heat block for up to 24 or 48 hours.

04. SEPARATE
Manually insert valve to separate supernatant from the cells. Collect supernatant and cell layer for downstream analysis.
TruCulture Tube Components
TruCulture Applications
TruCulture has been utilized as a whole-blood stimulation system by researchers and drug developers in several fields to reliably measure immune response for the following applications.
- Pharmacodynamics (including dose response)
- Functional immune cell analysis
- Disease characterization
- Patient stratification
- Genotype – to – Phenotype association studies
In one pertinent example, our partner, The Institut Pasteur, demonstrated the indispensable benefits of TruCulture in The Milieu Intérieur (“Environment Within”) project. Briefly, the Milieu Intérieur project is working to establish the determinants of a healthy immune response by identifying the genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors that contribute to the observed heterogeneity of immune responses. The challenge of the project is to establish the boundaries of a healthy immune response, and to that end, the Milieu Intérieur Project recruited 1,000 healthy individuals stratified across age (five-decades of life from age 20 – 69), and gender (1:1 gender ratio). TruCulture tubes were an integral part of the Milieu Intérieur clinical study, used as a standardized method for monitoring human response to immune stimulation.
To define the boundaries of a healthy immune response, The Milieu Intérieur project combined the use of TruCulture whole blood culture system with the use of stimuli to define the protein signatures induced by (i) medically relevant bacteria, fungi and viruses; (ii) agonists specific for defined host sensors; (iii) clinically employed cytokines; and (iv) activators of T cell immunity.
View an Overview of The Milieu Intérieur Project:
Advantages of TruCulture
- Integrated closed sterile instant whole blood collection and culture system.
- Standardized to ensure consistent performance across multiple users and clinical sites.
- Reliable, easy to use, and reproducible – eliminates the need for cell manipulation.
- Retains all blood components, granulocytes, platelets, red blood cells, soluble factors and Fc receptor expressing cells.
- Only inexpensive heat block needed, no lab equipment nor centrifugation steps.
- Has been successfully deployed in hundreds of clinical drug trials.
Disadvantages of Traditional PBMC
- Separate blood collection and specialized cell culture procedures.
- Extensive manipulation, processing, and often freezing/shipping prior to culturing.
- Requires technical expertise with increased variability across users and clinical sites.
- Requires CO2 incubator, biosafety cabinet, centrifuge, media, and cell culture plastics.
- Culture procedures/conditions are difficult to standardize for clinical trial applications.
- Open, less sterile, artificial system.
- Poor reproducibility.
Traditional pharmacodynamic whole blood experiments are generally short in duration (2-6 hrs) as a consequence of poor culture conditions leading to premature termination of the normal physiological immune response. A longer more robust response usually provides higher sensitivity and greater relevance than short incubation times that may only lead to the release of stored pre-synthesized mediators.
View Peer-Reviewed Publications Citing TruCulture
Bibliography
TruCulture
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Milieu Intérieur: Personalized Immune Response Monitoring
“We hope to advance the promise of personalized medicine with functional biomarkers.”
Dr. Matthew Albert, Director of the Department of Immunology; Co-Director and Founder of the Center for Human Immunology at Institut Pasteur; Adjunct Faculty at Cochin Hospital
Applications of TruCulture in Chronic infection
“What makes our project unique is our ability to induce standardized immune responses…possible because of the reproducibility of the TruCulture system.”
Dr. Darragh Duffy, Laboratory of Dendritic Cell Biology, Department of Immunology, Institut Pasteur
Statistical Analysis and Mathematical Modeling of Data Derived from TruCulture
“[Using TruCulture] we get high quality data with very little variation.”
Pr. Magnus Fontes, Director of the International Group for Data Analysis, Institut Pasteur
Stimulants
Part # | Description | Type |
---|---|---|
782-001411 | SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein TruCulture Tubes | Spike Protein |
782-001086 | Null TruCulture Tubes (TC Tubes Null) | Control |
782-001291 | NegCo | Control |
782-001219 | TNF-alpha (TC Tubes TNFa 10ng/ml) | Cytokine |
782-001224 | Intron A, IFN-alpha (TC Tubes IFNa) | Cytokine |
782-001277 | Interferon beta (TC Tubes IFN-beta) | Cytokine |
782-001278 | Interleukin-1beta + tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TC Tubes IL-1b+TNFa) | Cytokine |
782-001279 | Intron A + anti-CD3 + anti-CD28 (TC Tubes IFNa+CD3+CD28) | Cytokine |
782-001225 | Intron A + LPS-EB high (TC Tubes IFNa+LPS-EB) | Cytokine / TLR4 Ligand |
782-001272 | Adenosine Triphosphate + Lipopolysaccharide, high concentration (TC Tubes ATP+LPS-EB) | NLRP3 Inflammasome / TLR4 Ligand |
782-001273 | Lauroyl-γ-D-glutamyl-meso-diaminopimelic acid (TC Tubes C12-iE-DAP) | NOD Ligand |
782-001124 | SEB TruCulture Tubes (TC Tubes SEB) | T-Cell |
782-001125 | CD3/CD28 TruCulture Tubes (TC Tubes CD3+CD28) | T-Cell |
782-001126 | SEB/CD28 TruCulture Tubes (TC Tubes SEB+CD28) | T-Cell |
782-001202 | CD3 TruCulture Tubes (TC Tubes CD3) | T-Cell |
782-001259 | Zymosan TruCulture Tubes (TC Tubes ZYM) | TLR2 Ligand |
782-001274 | Fibroblast-stimulating Lipopeptide (TC Tubes FSL-1) | TLR2 Ligand |
782-001275 | HKEB (TC Tubes HKEB) | TLR2 Ligand |
782-001276 | HKLR (TC Tubes HKLR) | TLR2 Ligand |
782-001282 | Polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (TC Tube Poly I:C) | TLR3 Ligand |
782-001087 | LPS TruCulture Tubes (TC Tubes LPS) | TLR4 Ligand |
782-001089 | LPS+SEB TruCulture Tubes (TC Tubes LPS+SEB) | TLR4 Ligand / T-Cell |
782-001264 | Resiquimod R848 (TC Tubes R848) | TLR7/8 Ligand |
782-001269 | Gardiquimod (TC Tubes GDQ) | TLR7/8 Ligand |
782-001281 | Class A CpG oligonucleotide + LPS-EB high (TC Tube ODN2216+LPS-EB) | TLR9 Ligand |
If the stimulant you’d like to use in our TruCulture tubes is not listed, please fill out this form to request it. One of our experts will contact you to discuss the feasibility of your request. Thank you for your interest in TruCulture.
Myriad RBM provides quantitative measurement of immune related proteins from TruCulture supernatants. Whether your specific application requires a broad range or a focused set of analytes, Myriad RBM’s panels are designed to meet your needs.
TruCulture® OptiMAP is an immunoassay testing panel validated and optimized to quantify the effect of TruCulture stimulations. It is a cost-effective test comprised of 13 biomarkers that captures the diversity of responses to microbial, viral, and T cell stimulants.
OptiMAP Biomarkers
MAP | Volume Required |
---|---|
OptiMAP v. 1.0 | TruCulture Supernatant 100 μL |
OptiMAP Design
A total of 106 immune-related biomarkers were tested on TruCulture samples taken from healthy subjects. A careful selection of the key stimulants listed below were used to monitor a wide range of immune response pathways. From the 106 candidate biomarkers, we selected a subset of 13 assays that were useful in distinguishing responses to individual stimuli while also revealing population variances.
Microbial stimulants: LPS, IL-1β, TNF-α, BCG, HK C. albicans, HK E. coli, HK S. aureus
Viral stimulants: Poly IC, R848, IFN- α/β
T cell stimulants: SEB, anti-CD3/CD28

Principle component analysis of 25 normal subjects each tested with 12 TruCulture stimuli and responses monitored with either 106 protein biomarkers or an optimized panel of 13 protein biomarkers. Both analyses show a similar ability to segregate responses by the various stimuli, indicating the utility and efficiency of the OptiMAP panel.
For a more comprehensive understanding of functional immune cell activity, TruCulture supernatant can be tested on any of our Human MAP products. The tubes are also compatible with flow cytometry and gene expression analysis.
Multiplex immunoassay analysis of TruCulture supernatants is conducted in our CLIA-certified testing laboratory.
Every order starts with a quote.
To get your quote, contact Myriad RBM or choose an option below:
Co-Developing new tubes
To co-develop Truculture tubes of interest, please contact us.
Myriad RBM can evaluate your stimuli of interest for sterility, solubility, dose response, short and long-term stability, and reproducibility.
Support
Myriad RBM is proud to provide excellent customer support
Let us know how we can help you using one of the following options:
Already have a quote number? Great!
Application Notes
Measuring Antigen Recall to SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein with TruCulture
TruCulture, TruCulture Webinars, Webinars
Protocols for Processing TruCulture Samples at Clinical Sites
Application Notes, TruCulture
Gene Expression Analysis of Myriad RBM’s TruCulture Samples with the NanoString nCounter Panel
Application Notes, TruCulture
RNA Extraction/Purification Protocol for TruCulture Samples App Note
Application Notes, TruCulture
Vaccine Development with TruCulture Application Note
Application Notes, TruCulture
Standard Flow Cytometry Protocol for Analysis of Surface Markers for TruCulture
Application Notes, TruCulture
TruCulture Webinars
Measuring Antigen Recall to SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein with TruCulture
TruCulture, TruCulture Webinars, Webinars
Investigating Immune Response with TruCulture & NanoString nCounter
TruCulture, TruCulture Webinars, Webinars
A Reproducible Immunomonitoring Method for Multi-Center Clinical Studies
TruCulture Webinars, Webinars
Standardized Assays for Personalized Immune Response Monitoring
TruCulture, TruCulture Webinars, Webinars