General guidelines for preparation and storage of the Levitation agent.
Levitation agent is quite stable even in diluted solution. As a best practice, diluted Levitation Agent can be stored for up to 1 week in a well-sealed container. If the Levitation Agent is not stored properly or for too long evaporation and/or crystallization is a potential concern, which would alter the gadolinium concentration of the solution.
If prepared in advance, it is best to store Levitation Agent at room temperature, one exception being if the Levitation agent is prepared in media that contains proteins such as BSA or FBS. If diluted Levitation Agent is stored in a refrigerator or cold room always bring to room temperature prior to levitation.
The stock Levitation Agent (1M) is highly viscous - when pipetting, allow the liquid to be fully aspirated into the tip. After aspiration, a fair amount of mixing is required to fully incorporate into the diluent buffer. It is recommended to vortex for 10s or mix with a pipette 10x. This may need to vary with the amount of Levitation Agent being prepared, but the main point is to make sure it is thoroughly mixed.
If your downstream assay will require your cells to be sterile, please dispense aliquots of the Levitation Agent using aseptic techniques.
For general information regarding preparing Levitation Agent for live cell enrichment, please visit our article.