Consistent Embryoid Body Formation and Differentiation from Stem Cells
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AMSBIO have introduced the Cultrex® Embryoid Body Formation Kit to generate consistent, reproducible and identical in size embryoid bodies. It has been qualified to form embryoid bodies from human pluripotent stem cells. Embryoid bodies are finding increasing use in regenerative medicine, in-vitro screening and as a model of embryonic development.
The new kit includes ROCK Inhibitor Y-27632, which significantly increases survival of PSCs in single cell culture, a specialized Embryoid Body Formation Matrix to stimulate cell aggregation and development of embryoid bodies, and a 96-well Embryoid Bodies Formation Plate, that allows for control of the embryoid body size and shape. No transfer step is required for differentiation.
Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), including embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), have the unique ability to differentiate into cells of three embryonic germ layers (endoderm, ectoderm and mesoderm).
The majority of differentiation protocols start with the generation of embryoid bodies - three-dimensional multicellular aggregates of pluripotent stem cells.
Although pluripotent stem cells placed in suspension culture will form embryoid bodies spontaneously, the efficiency of this process varies and is not reproducible. Most current methods avoid preparing single cell suspension, due to low survival of pluripotent stem cells in single cell culture, and require keeping cells in large clumps, thus generating embryoid bodies of different size and shapes. Size of embryoid bodies is one of the key factors effecting differentiation of PSCs and needs to be controlled.
Currently the Cultrex® Embryoid Body Formation Kit from AMSBIO is the only commercially available kit for formation and differentiation of size-consistent embryoid bodies.
