Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell Kit - Derived from Bone-Marrow

As the focus of stem cell research undergoes a transition from animal to human models, researchers are in critical need of validated products to support the isolation, maintenance, differentiation, and characterization of human stem cells. While many reagents designed for rodent systems can be applied to human stem cell studies, they are not truly optimized for robust human stem cell culture or analysis. This is why human stem cell researchers have always trusted EMD Millipore, the first provider of commercially available human embryonic stem cells and human neural stem cell lines, to accelerate their research. All of our human stem cell systems are extensively tested in defined media culture, and differentiated progeny are comprehensively characterized with highly validated antibodies and detection reagents.

Expression of genetically-encoded fluorescently-tagged proteins has widely been employed for real-time visualization of cellular behavior and trafficking. Prepackaged, ready-to-use, high-titer lentiviral particles (which we have termed “lentiviral biosensors”) encoding GFP- or RFP-tagged proteins are a convenient, robust solution for fluorescent imaging of transduced cells. Compared to other nonviral transfection methods, lentiviral transduction, in many cases, offers higher transfection efficiency and more homogeneous protein expression, particularly for traditionally hard-to-transfect primary cell types. Lentiviral biosensors are ideal for use with fixed and live cell fluorescent microscopy, and are non-disruptive towards cellular function. GFP- or RFP-protein localization matches well with antibody-based immunostaining and demonstrates altered patterns of expression upon treatment with modulators of cell function and phenotype. Lentiviral biosensors provide a broadly effective, convenient method for visualization of cell behavior under a variety of physiological and pathological treatment conditions, in both endpoint and real-time imaging modalities. In this study, we focus on lentiviral biosensors containing GFP-LC3 and RFP-LC3 for the study of autophagosome formation.

We have collaborated with Plasticell Ltd. to develop OsteoMAX-XF™, a novel, serum-free, xeno-free, differentiation medium for the generation of osteoblasts from human MSCs. This medium may be particularly suitable for drug discovery and clinical development. By screening roughly 3,500 combinations of serum and xeno-free media, we discovered a remarkably efficient, fully defined, reproducible medium to promote the differentiation of hMSCs into osteoblasts, offering an excellent, cost effective method to produce large amounts of human bone cells for multiple applications.