Researchers use mTeSR1 medium for deriving human induced pluripotent stem cells

Sep 15 2009

In a landmark paper, researchers at Stanford University have described a new way to derive human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) without the use of contaminating mouse feeder cells. Using adipose cells as the starting cell population and mTeSR™1, a defined medium that allows the expansion of human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells without the use of feeders, the researchers were able to fully reprogram the cells to the pluripotent state.

iPSCs could potentially become the source of patient specific replacement cells, but methods used to generate these cells to date have relied on the use of mouse feeder cells which make the cells unsuitable for clinical use. "The fact that adipose cells can now be reprogrammed without the use of contaminating feeder cells means we are one step closer to being able to use these cells in the clinic," said Dr. Joseph Wu, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Radiology at Stanford University and senior author on the publication.

“mTeSR™1 is proving to be a very versatile tool for working with iPSCs,” said Dr. Clive Glover, Senior Product Manager at STEMCELL Technologies. “Previously, it has been shown that iPSCs can be expanded routinely with mTeSR™1, but this study suggests that mTeSR™1 can be used all the way from initial derivation through to expansion.”

mTeSR™1 is a fully defined medium and is the most widely used feeder-independent method for culturing human pluripotent stem cells, with citations in more than 25 publications.

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