Pluripotent stem cell characterization methods

Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) have the ability to self-renew and, with the right cue, differentiate into a wide variety of cell types representative of the three germ layers. This makes PSCs like embryonic stem cells (ESCs), powerful tools for drug screening and cell therapy, more so with the development of reprogramming technologies that enable the creation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from donor-derived somatic cells. With all of the recent technological advances, iPSCs can now be derived from various somatic cells using different reprogramming methods and can be cultured with different media and matrices. As diverse PSC lines are derived and cultured under different conditions, there is a need for reliable characterization methods to confirm the quality of the PSCs. Current PSC characterization practices consist of a panel of assays primarily testing functional pluripotency and detecting abnormalities that can affect cell behavior and safety. Here we describe the basic and common PSC characterization practices in the context of reprogramming and the derivation of a new iPSC line.

• #science_technology
• #thermo_fisher
• #stem_cell_characterization
• #psc_characterization
• #pluripotent_stem_cell_characterization