ECACC Health Protection Agency - Authenticated Culture Collections

The formation of the Health Protection Agency has brought together four of the existing UK culture collections under one organisation:

• European Collection of Cell Cultures (ECACC)
• National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC)
• National Collection of Pathogenic Viruses (NCPV)
• National Collection of Pathogenic Fungi (NCPF)

Together these collections offer a comprehensive range of microrganisms of medical and veterinary importance along with human and animal cell cultures for both academic and commercial research and development.

EUROPEAN COLLECTION OF CELL CULTURES (ECACC)

ECACC was established in 1984 and has grown to be one of the premier suppliers of quality assured authenticated cell cultures in the world. Its worldwide network of distributors enables it to provide a fast and efficient service to its customers. ECACC boasts over 40,000 cell lines listed in its catalogue and website which represent:

• Cell lines derived from 50 different species and 40 different tissue types
• 450 monoclonal antibodies to a wide range of antigenic determinants
• 250 HLA defined cell lines from varied ethnic origins
• 800 clinical genetic disorders
• Normal early passage cells

Our supporting services include:

• Cryopreservation
• Cell banking
• Authentication
• Microbial contamination testing
• Human genetic support services
• Cell culture management services
• Genomic DNA production
• CGMP, patent and safe deposits
• Cell culture training courses

NATIONAL COLLECTION OF TYPE CULTURES (NCTC)

The NCTC supplies reference bacterial cultures of medical, scientific and veterinary importance world-wide to support academic, health, food and veterinary institutions. The collection comprises over 5,000 bacterial cultures, over 100 mycoplasmas and more than 500 plasmids, host strains, bacteriophages and transposons.

NCTC has access to the wide-ranging expertise of an internationally-renowned body of specialists in clinical and environmental microbiology. Whilst the collection is maintained and supplied in traditional glass ampoules, some cultures are available as a user-friendly lenticule disc, in both qualitative and quantitative formats.

The NCTC supporting services include:

• Freeze-drying of customer's own strains
• International Depository Authority (IDA) patent depository for bacterial cultures
• Production of cultures and samples for use in EQA schemes
• Provision of cultures (in lenticule disc format) with defined numbers of cfu/disc

NATIONAL COLLECTION OF PATHOGENIC VIRUS (NCPV)

The NCPV preserves well characterised, authenticated human pathogenic viruses in a secure facility and supplies the agents or nucleic acids derived from them, to the scientific community according international guidelines.

Most of the material is in the form of cell cultured virus stocks, but where desirable or necessary, provision has also been made for selected clinical material and uncultivable viruses to be archived as serum, tissue or other biological samples, or in the form of cloned material.

NCPV stores and carries out viability testing on virus patent deposits on behalf of ECACC. Their supporting services include:

• Small-scale contract to do with high contaminate viruses
• Patent and safe deposit
• Nucleic acid preparation
• Sequencing

NATIONAL COLLECTION OF PATHOGENIC FUNGI (NCPF)

The NCPF is the UK's only culture collection specialising in fungi pathogenic to humans and animals. The NCPF holds about 2,500 strains, most of which are available for sale and distribution, including:

• 500 strains of dermatophytes and related organisms from the UK and abroad
• 900 mould strains from subcutaneous and deep-seated human and animal infections
• 900 pathogenic yeast strains from superficial and deep-seated human infections
• 140 strains of dimorphic fungal pathogens
• 100 strains of aerobic actinomycetes

Supporting services:

• Courses on the identification of pathogenic fungi
• Molecular strain typing studies
• Classical and molecular taxonomic studies
• Construction of antibiograms for developmental antifungal drugs
• Genomic DNA