Products for culturing stem cells: quality and reliability

What do you need for Stem cell research?

When you are interested to start using stem cells in your laboratory you have to keep in mind that stem cell culture requires expert culture techniques. Each stem cell type requires specialized high quality medium with cell-specific growth supplements for optimal growth and survival. Many different growth supplements are available in the market but for this type of culture it is important to have high quality growth factors. Also the use of cell culture flasks that feature superior cell culture surface with demonstrated performance will elevates your stem cell research. Unwanted stem cell differentiation or even cellular senescence can easily be the result of suboptimal stem cell culture conditions, so it is crucial to select the right stem cell type, media, growth factors, and plastics.

Stem cells have the potential to form the basis for many important studies and therapies as listed in the previous chapter. Besides genetic approaches such as CRISPR-CAS9 and cytokine/protein based approaches, small molecules can be used as important reagents to better understand the underlying biology in stem cells and how to regulate and manipulate them. Small molecules are becoming a highly important tool, both in discovery and in the development of therapies.

Stem cell research and the continuously new biological discoveries and tools have tremendous potential for regenerative medicine.

The selection of Sanbio

For culturing high quality stem cells, a total solution with stem cell culture products offering consistent and accurate results is most important. The suppliers of Sanbio are selected by high quality standards of their products, innovation and passion for Life Science research.

From our experience we would like to highlight product categories which you need for your stem cell research.

Stem cells

Pluripotent stem cells can be derived from embryonic stem (ES) cells, or induced from somatic cells by transcription factors including Oct3/4, sox2, c-Myc, klf4, Nanog, called iPS cells. Another type of stem cell is the Mesenchymal stem cells that can differentiate into e.g. osteoblasts, chondrocytes and adipocytes.

Sanbio has selected ScienCell as supplier of stem cells due to the good quality of the products. In our portfolio we offer Human Pluripotent stem cells including HiPSC-derived Neural Stem Cells and Embryonic fibroblasts to support the growth of pluripotent stem cells, Also we offer  liver, umbilical, pulmonary, Amniotic, Vertebral, Chorionic Mesenchymal stem cells

Which media and growth factors are most suitable for your research?

The benefits of ScienCell’s stem cell media

The right media is incredibly important for the best results. ScienCell’s wide assortment of cell culture media is in liquid form and includes Specialty, Classical & Supplement varieties. Each product is designed for optimal nutrition and growth of specific primary cells or stem cells. Many researchers working with cell lines commonly use classical and nutrient media which is sufficient for cell line culture. However, primary cells and stem cells require additional nutrients for good performance. ScienCell’s media is manufactured and tested to ensure a high standard of quality and consistency.

Each specialty medium is paired with cell-specific growth supplements for optimal growth and survival. Complete media kits include basal media, growth supplement, antibiotic and fetal bovine serum (if applicable).

Growth factors for Embryonic and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells are characterized by the ability to undergo self-renewal in vitro when cultured with growth factors provided by feeder cells or defined culture media. Different types of Embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells are available from the HumanKine product line from Proteintech. The growth factors including Activins, Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs), GDNF family ligands, IGF ligands, TGF-beta family ligands, Wnt Ligands and Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) Ligands.

The golden old standard: Fibroblast Growth Factor

Basic Fibroblast growth factor (FGFbasic), also know as FGF2, FGF-β, bfGF or HBGF-2 is involved in a number of biological processes. This component is required in stem cell culture media for maintaining human embryonic stem cells in an undifferentiated state (PMID 15782187). Normally, because FGF is unstable, daily media changes are needed.

Thermostable FGF does not require media changes over the weekend

Proteintech’s thermostable Fibroblast Growth Factor basic (FGFbasic-TS) supports a 2-day media change schedule, so it saves money, time, and no media changes are required over a weekend.

Proteintech FGFbasic-TS is created in HEK293 cells using animal-free components

• FGFbasic-TS was engineered for enhanced stability in culture media, without modification of its biological function.
• The 154 amino acid, 17 kDa, non-glycosylated monomer cytokine is expressed in Proteintech’s proprietary human cell line (HEK293) developed for the production of authentic human recombinant proteins.
• FGFbasic-TS has greater stability than  coli-derived FGFbasic, lasting 3 times longer at 37˚C

Advance your research with a specialty media kit of ScienCell

The complete specialty media kits of ScienCell include basal media, a growth supplement, penicillin/streptomycin and FBS (if needed) and are optimized to work in combination. Advance your research with all products of the same supplier, from stem cell to growth factor. For Mesenchymal stem cells we recommend item SCC7501.

The advantage of high quality plastics

Quality and reliability. We highly recommend the cell culture flasks of NUNC. During our long-term cooperation, the quality has never been disappointing. The NUNC cell culture flasks are designed for consistency, cell health and reproducibility. Choose from a variety of sizes, with culture areas ranging from 25cm2 to 500cm2 and a selection of surface treated offerings to address your specific applications and cell types. Thermo Scientific™ Nunclon™ Sphera™ Microplates feature a superior cell culture surface with demonstrated performance that elevates stem cell and cell culture research. Offered in round and flat-bottom 96-well formats.

Small molecules

Small molecules are highly important reagents in stem cell research. High quality products are very important in this type of research which Cayman Chemical delivers. Cayman offers small molecule inducers of stem cell differentiation, stimulators of stem cell renewal and proliferation, and reprogrammers of differentiated cells back to pluripotent cells. Tools to study transcription factor activation and antibodies against various stem cell markers and intracellular signaling components are also available.

Why is there such an interest in stem cells?

Researchers and doctors believe that the potential of stem cells to renew themselves, or to create new tissue, is almost infinite. Stem cells are an important tool in the lab and in medicine.

• Stem cell research can help to understand human development and may help to better understand how diseases and conditions develop.
• Stem cells can be manipulated to become specific cells that can be used to regenerate, repair or replace damaged tissues.
• Stem cells can be used to test drugs for safety, quality, and accuracy without putting volunteers at risk, so a very important tool for drug development

(source: Shevde, Nature 2012; 483, S22-S26).

Contact us

Contact us for advice regarding your Stem Cell Research. We are happy to help you find out how you can achieve the best research results.