title: Shear-controlled single-step mouse embryonic stem cell expansion and embryoid body-based differentiation.
abstract: To facilitate the exploitation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and ESC-derived cells, scale-up of cell production and optimization of culture conditions are necessary. Conventional ESC culture methods are impractical for large-scale cell production and lack robust microenvironmental control. We developed two stirred-suspension culture systems for the propagation of undifferentiated ESCs--microcarrier and aggregate cultures--and compared them with tissue-culture flask and Petri dish controls. ESCs cultured on glass microcarriers had population doubling times (approximately 14-17 hours) comparable to tissue-culture flask controls. ESC growth could be elicited in shear-controlled stirred-suspension culture, with population doubling times ranging between 24 and 39 hours at 100 rpm impeller speed. Upon removal of leukemia inhibitory factor, the size-controlled ESC aggregates developed into embryoid bodies (EBs) capable of multilineage differentiation. A comprehensive analysis of ESC developmental potential, including flow cytometry for Oct-4, SSEA-1, and E-cadherinprotein expression, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for Flk-1, HNF3-beta, MHC, and Sox-1 gene expression, and EB differentiation analysis, demonstrated that the suspension-cultured ESCs retained the developmental potential of the starting cell population. Analysis of E-cadherin-/- and E-cadherin+/- cells using both systems provided insight into the mechanisms behind the role of cell aggregation control, which is fundamental to these observations. These cell-culture tools should prove useful for both the production of ESCs and ESC-derived cells and for investigations into adhesion, survival, and differentiation phenomena during ESC propagation and differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Elaine Y L
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Fok
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Zandstra
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D002449:Cell Aggregation / Q000502:physiology; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D048708:Cell Growth Processes / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000172:deficiency; D053605:Leukemia Inhibitory Factor; D051379:Mice; D008863:Microspheres; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D015850:Interleukin-6; D053605:Leukemia Inhibitory Factor; C507838:Lif protein, mouse