title: An ECM-based culture system for the generation and maintenance of xeno-free human iPS cells.
abstract: Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) including induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have emerged as a promising source for treating incurable diseases. Problems that urgently need to be resolved before the clinical application include avoiding potential xenopathogenic transmission and immune rejection that may be caused by the exposure of PSCs to animal-derived products. In addition, an efficient feeder cell-free culture condition would be required for reducing batch-to-batch variation and facilitating scale-up. Therefore, establishing an efficient xeno-free and extracelluar matrix-based culture system is a prerequisite for the clinical application of PSCs. In this study, by blocking protein kinase C and histone deacetylase activities, we formulated a medium that, in combination with vitronectin as an extracellular matrix, not only allows the long-term culture of hESCs and iPSCs but also efficiently generates xeno-free iPSCs. This xeno-free and feeder cell-free culture system would facilitate the clinical applications of both iPSC- and ESC-based cell therapies in the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Science, CHA University, College of Life Science, Seoul 463-840, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeong-Taek
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kang-In
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dong-Wook
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dong-Youn
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Hwang
mesh_terms: D061249:Batch Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D005109:Extracellular Matrix; D006801:Humans; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds