About Alginatec® – What we do

Alginatec® GmbH was founded in 2015 by Roland Geßner in Riedenheim/Bavaria. Since its foundation, the company has specialised in the complete value chain of algae and alginates.

In the initial phase, the company focused in particular on the harvesting, processing, documentation and logistics of algae. For this purpose, partnerships were established in Chile and the necessary infrastructure was built.

Since then, regular harvests of the algae species Lessonia nigrescens and Lessonia trabeculata have been carried out.

In 2016, further premises were rented in Germany to create production capacities and to further expand the product portfolio of Alginatec® GmbH.

Since 2016, sterile extraction of alginates, sterile production of alginate spheres beads and their biochemical modification have been carried out. A cell culture infrastructure is available to enable further cell-based quality controls of the alginate products to be carried out independently.

Alginatec® GmbH aims to provide scientists in academic and industrial R&D fields with a high-quality biomaterial so that they can establish meaningful in vitro test systems in drug development, for example.

Alginatec® GmbH wants to achieve the highest possible customer satisfaction and relies on trusting business relationships with its customers.

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Mapping of all processes along the value chain of UHV alginates

Alginatec® GmbH carries out all important processes along the value chain of UHV alginates. Based on this experience, built up over decades, customers can access a unique biomaterial for their research work.

Alginate raw material

Selection and harvest
Standardisation
Documentation
Cleaning
Peeling
Comminution
Drying
Portioning
Packaging

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Alginate logistics

Export from Chile
Import to Germany
Humidity and temperature monitoring

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Alginate extraction

Sterile processing
Quality control
Alginate formulations

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Alginate hydrogels

Sterile alginate beads
Alginate modification
Bioactive alginate microcarriers
Quality control

Applications of UHV alginates

UHV alginates from Alginatec® GmbH are already being used successfully in a wide range of applications by our customers in the biotechnological sector.

Encapsulation (immunoisolation)
Cryopreservation
3D cultivation matrix
2D growth surface
Bioprinting
Microcontact printing
Macro moulding
Coating of sensors and other Inorganic materials
Microcarriers in adherent Suspension culture
Enzymatic degradation studies

The following cell systems have already been successfully cultivated with Alginatec® alginates

Islets of Langerhans
Human mesenchymal stem cells
Human induced pluripotent stem Cells (hiPSC)
hiPSC-derived neuronal cells
hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes
hiPSC-derived endothelial cells
and many more

Ultra-high viscosity (UHV) alginates

Alginates occur as a component of the cell wall in e.g. brown algae. Depending on the environmental conditions in the sea, each algae species is exposed to specific currents, which are reflected in the algae’s phenotype. The necessary supporting or flexible properties are implemented at the molecular level by the alginates. Alginates are linear, unbranched polysaccharides composed of the monomers α-L-guluronic acid (G) and β-D-manuronic acid.

The monomers themselves are arranged in homogeneous G blocks (GGGG), homogeneous M blocks (MMMM) or alternating MG blocks (MGMGM). These blocks are conditioned by the phenotype of the algae – rigid algae have a high proportion of G with homogeneous G blocks, flexible algae species, on the other hand, often show a higher proportion of heterogeneous MG blocks, as these cause a higher mechanical flexibility.

The polysaccharides of the alginates have the properties that in the presence of multivalent cations such as barium or calcium they interact directly with adjacent G-blocks (so-called “egg-box” structure) and thus form an alginate hydrogel with a water content of approx. 98%.

The gelation itself takes place at low temperatures (e.g. 20°C), does not require cytotoxic initiators and is therefore also excellently suited for use in cell biological applications.

Alginatec® alginates are obtained exclusively from the brown algae Lessonia nigrescens and Lessonia trabeculata. Both UHV alginates can be used in their pure form – most user experience is with the 1:1 mixture of both alginates at a concentration of 0.65% (w%/v%). The gentle drying process of the algae and the special extraction process of the alginates via several filtrations and precipitations is the basis for the high quality and unique properties of the Alginatec® alginates.

	Dynamic viscosity [kPa∙s]	Molecular weight* [g/mol]	M/G-Relation*	Proportion G blocks*
Lessonia nigrescens	4 - 12	3.3∙10⁵ to 2.9∙10⁶	1.55	0.67
Lessonia trabeculata	0,3 - 3	1.4∙10⁵ to 2.6∙10⁶ g/mol	0.28	0.08

* Storz, H., et al. 2009. Physicochemical features of ultra-high viscosity alginates. Carbohydr. Res. 344, 8, 985–995.

Due to their high purity, Alginatec® alginates are bioinert in their native state, i.e. there are no functional groups that allow stem cells to adhere to the hydrogel. In order to be able to use alginates in these processes, a modification in the form of a chemical coupling of adhesion-promoting proteins to the hydrogel must first take place. Covalent couplings of proteins such as collagen I or more complex protein mixtures are possible and trigger specific adhesion of e.g. stem cells to the hydrogel.

The use of hydrogels in combination with stem cells is being worked on intensively by many research laboratories, as more physiological in vitro conditions can be provided for the cells.

The key properties of Alginatec® alginates, especially for biotechnological applications, are: