Cayman Chemical offers a wide selection of stem cell research tools, including small molecule inducers of stem cell differentiation, stimulators of stem cell renewal and proliferation, and reprogrammers of differentiated cells back to pluripotent cells. Antibodies against various stem cell markers and intracellular signaling components, as well as assay kits to study transcription factor activation, are also available.

Modulators of Stem Cell Signaling Pathways

This product line includes activators and inhibitors of signaling pathways that regulate stem cell pluripotency, including TGF-β, BMP4, Wnt, hedgehog, and growth factor signaling pathways. Targets in growth factor signaling pathways include MEK, ERK1/2, and growth factor receptors such as EGFR and FGFR. Cayman offers inhibitors targeting the receptors ALK4, ALK5, and ALK7 in the activin/nodal/TGF-β pathway, as well as pathway activators. Cayman also provides small molecules targeting the receptors ALK1, ALK2, ALK3, and ALK6 in the BMP4 pathway, GSK3β in the Wnt signaling pathway, and Smoothened (Smo) in the hedgehog pathway, as well as compounds to control apoptosis occurring during stem cell self-renewal and proliferation.

Cayman’s Stem Cell Small Molecule Screening Library (96-Well) contains more than 140 small molecules and is designed to simplify screening efforts. This library includes compounds that induce differentiation, maintain self-renewal and proliferation, or improve the reprogramming efficiency of various stem cell populations.

Antibodies for Stem Cell Research

Cayman offers a variety of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies that can be used in stem cell research and are compatible with applications including immunohistochemistry, immunocytochemistry, and Western blot. These include monoclonal antibodies against the cell surface proteins CD31 (a marker of human and mouse embryonic stem cells), CD34 (a marker of hematopoietic stem cells, satellite, and endothelial progenitor cells), and CD45 (a marker of white blood cells and their progenitors). Antibodies against the intermediate filament proteins nestin and vimentin can be used to identify ectoderm, neural, and pancreatic progenitor cells. Cayman also offers antibodies against the stem cell intracellular signaling components β-catenin, SMAD1/5/8/9, SMAD2, SMAD3, SMAD4, and STAT3α/β (phospho-Tyr⁷⁰⁵).

Transcription Factor Assay Kits

Cayman offers sensitive, non-radioactive ELISAs to study activation of the transcription factors Oct4 and STAT3. Oct4 is an essential regulator of embryonic stem cell pluripotency and is used as a marker for undifferentiated cells. Cayman’s Oct4 Transcription Factor Assay Kit uses a 96-well dsDNA-coated plate to measure the dsDNA binding activity of Oct4 from whole cell lysates.

STAT3 is activated by phosphorylation at tyrosine 705 (phospho-Tyr⁷⁰⁵) in response to stimulation with cytokines or growth factors. Continuous activation of STAT3 is required in maintaining the pluripotency of mouse embryonic stem cells. Cayman’s STAT3 Transcription Factor Assay Kit uses a 96-well DNA-coated plate to measure the DNA binding activity of STAT3 from nuclear extracts. This kit uses a highly specific monoclonal antibody, providing an excellent signal-to-background ratio.

What’s New from Cayman

Cayman has recently introduced three new TR-FRET kits to measure cellular levels of activated (phospho-Tyr⁷⁰⁵) and/or total STAT3 protein: the STAT3 (Phospho-Tyr⁷⁰⁵) TR-FRET Kit measures the levels of activated STAT3, the STAT3 (Total) TR-FRET Kit measures total STAT3 levels, and the STAT3 (Total) and STAT3 (Phospho-Tyr⁷⁰⁵) TR-FRET Kit measures the levels of both. The streamlined “add-incubate-measure” assay protocol dramatically decreases hands-on time. Cayman’s STAT3 TR-FRET kits exhibit very low background fluorescence levels, a stable assay readout, and high signal-to-background ratios. These robust assays are suitable for screening a large number of samples and are compatible with both 96- and 384-well formats.

Click here to request an overview of all Stem Cell Research products from Cayman Chemical.