Fetal Bovine Serum-More Data

Primary and Stem Cell Culture
This just came across our radar.
"SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL An eye opener in stroke: Mitochondrial dysfunction and stem cell repair in MCAO induced retinal ischemia"

We are always delighted when researchers supplement their cell culture media with our Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS).

• RPE Cells and MSC Culture Retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE, CRL-4000; ATCC) cells were cultured in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Media/F-12 (DMEM/F-12, 11320033; Gibco) containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS; FBS001; Neuromics) and 0.01 mg/ml hygromycin B (10687010; Gibco) in incubator (37°C humidified, with 5% CO2, 95% air). 
• MSCs were maintained with α-MEM (12561056; Gibco) supplemented with 20% FBS (FBS001; Neuromics), 1% penicillin/streptomycin (15140122; Gibco), 1% non-essential amino acids (11140050; Gibco), 1% GlutaMax-I (35050061; Gibco) in incubator (37°C humidified, with 5% CO2, 95% air).

MSCs’ mitochondria were detected in RPE cells after OGD. MSCs’ mitochondria were separately stained with Mitotracker prior to co-culture with RPE cells. Confocal images of RPE cells with DAPI (blue), β-tubulin (red), and MSCs’ mitochondria stained with Mitotracker (green). MSCs’ mitochondria were detected within the boundaries of RPE cells. Scale bar 10 µm.

We are offering our USDA Origin FBS for $299/500 ml. through the end of January.

We Have Human Bone Marrow Derived Stem Cells

Pure and Potent-Only $655/500,000 Cells

Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells isolated from bone marrow and provided a low passage. These cells have the ability to be passaged five to 10 passages in our Low Serum, Complete Medium (#SC00B1); which is optimized for high growth rates, reduced doubling times, healthy cells and stability. This Product is manufactured, tested and validated in an ISO 9001/ISO13485/CLIA certified facility.

Culturing Cells in Defined 3-D Structures

Media Supplements Matter

There have been several publications referencing use of our growth factors in 3-D Cultures. It is important that potent growth factors are used to ensure proper cell growth and differentiation.

Here's a new publication referencing use of our ISOKine^TM FGF. Our ISOKine growth factors are produced in the endosperm tissue of barley grain (Hordeum vulgare), that exhibits up to 50 times less protease activity than E.coli or mammalian cells. Barley seed is void of any human or animal viral contaminants that could jeopardize your cell culture.

Claas Willem Visser, Tom Kamperman, Lisanne P. Karbaat, Detlef Lohse and Marcel Karperien. In-air microfluidics enables rapid fabrication of emulsions, suspensions, and 3D modular (bio)materials. Science Advances 31 Jan 2018: Vol. 4, no. 1, eaao1175 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao1175. In this study, the authors present in-air microfluidics (IAMF), a new chip-free platform technology that enables in-flight (that is, on-the-fly) formation of droplets, fibers, and particles and their one-step deposition into 3D constructs with a modular internal architecture.

Figure: Concept of IAMF and guide to the article. (A) Chip-based microfluidics enables in-line control over droplets and particles, making it a versatile platform technology. A chip design where droplets (blue) are transported by a coflow (pink) is shown. (B) IAMF maintains the in-line control of chip-based microfluidics but relies on jet ejection and coalescence into air. Therefore, a wide range of droplets and particles can be produced at flow rates typically two orders of magnitude higher than with chip-based microfluidics. When combining reactive, solidifying microjets, IAMF also enables on-the-fly production and direct deposition of microparticles into 3D multiscale modular (bio)materials.

Figure: One-step additive manufacturing and injection molding of 3D multiscale modular (bio)materials. (A) Modular free forms with a controlled microarchitecture were manufactured by stacking of shape-stable core-shell particles. (B to D) A hollow cylinder was formed by deposition of the composite jet onto a rotating substrate. By altering the building blocks’ composition, the resulting microarchitecture consisted of (C) a liquid-filled foam or (D) a multimaterial modular solid, where the cross-linker for the core was added to the shell and vice versa. (E) To eject a modular filler, only the droplets’ cores are solidified in the air, whereas the slower solidifying shells enable seamless filling of the mold. (F to H) A modular construct was produced by filling a bone-shaped mold. Inset: Hydrogel construct while still in the mold. The 3D multiscale modular material consisted of MSCs (pink), encapsulated in alginate microspheres (green) that are embedded in dextran-tyramine hydrogel (red). (I) Injection-molded multiscale modular tissue construct with optimized cellular micro- and macroenvironments. The construct consisted of insulin-producing pancreatic β cells (MIN6; beige with blue nuclei) that were encapsulated in alginate microparticles (green). The cell-laden microparticles were encapsulated within a proangiogenic fibrin network that contained human endothelial and stem cells (pink with blue nuclei). The microenvironments supported MIN6 cell proliferation, whereas the macroenvironment supported the formation of an endothelial cellular network within 7 days of in vitro culture. HUVEC, human umbilical cord endothelial cell. Scale bars, 1 cm (B and F), 5 mm (G), and 100 μm (C, D, H, and I).

We live in a 3-D world and 3-D Cell and Tissue Based Assays are a major focus for us. This includes bioinks for 3-D printing.

Medical Grade Soluble Collagen

New Products-New Applications

We are pleased to announce the addition of  Medical Grade Collagen to our Cell Based Assay Solutions. Applications include:

• Tissue engineering 
• Wound healing
• Medical device coatings
• 3D cell cultures
• Drug delivery 
• Sealants 
• Electrospinning
• Hemostats
• 3D printing

This example outlines how this collagen can be used for cartilage regeneration from mesenschymal stem cells. Acta Biomater. 2016 Jan;30:212-221. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2015.11.024. Epub 2015 Nov 18.

Figure: Fabrication of macroporous woven scaffolds and pellet delivery via the macroporous woven collagen scaffold; (a) Liquid to solid phase transition of collagen molecules via electrocompaction to fabricate electrochemically aligned collagen threads and electrocompacted sheets. (b) Collagen thread is woven around a set of pins and threads are stabilized by crosslinking two collagen sheets on top and bottom of woven part of scaffold. (c) Schema of the final woven collagen scaffold. (d) 1 million MSCs pelletized at 500 ×g for 12 minutes, cultured for 3 days and then transferred in to scaffold holes.

SIGNIFICANCE: Mesenchymal condensation is critical for driving chondrogenesis, making high density cell seeding a standard in cartilage tissue engineering. Efforts to date have utilized scaffold free delivery of MSCs in pellet form. This study developed a macroporous scaffold that is fabricated by weaving highly aligned collagen threads. The scaffold can deliver high density cell condensates while providing mechanical stiffness comparable to that of cartilage. The scaffold also mimicked the arcade-like orientation of collagen fibers in cartilage. A highly robust chondrogenesis was observed in this mesenchymal cell pellet delivery system. Baseline mechanical robustness of this scaffold system will enable delivery of cell pellets as early as three days.

New Human RPES and BMSCS

Need Human Cells? Just Ask!

This is our cornerstone and we keep building on it. You asked for them. We are pleased to announce we now have Human Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCs) and Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells (RPES).

RPES in Culture.

BMSCS in Culture.

We will continue to post new cell offerings here.

Targeted Delivery of Our UCB Derived hMSCs

Liver-targeting Delivery via Intravenous Injection of Cells

Check out how our UCB Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells are engineered for delivery to the liver: Hahn, Sei Kwang (Pohang-si, KR), Kim, Yun Seop (Seoul, KR), Kong, Won Ho (Pohang-si, KR),Kim, Hyemin (Daegu, KR). HYALURONIC ACID DERIVATIVES AND COMPOSITION FOR CELL-SURFACE ENGINEERING USING THE SAME. United States Patent Application 20170067012.

Images: Neuromics' hMSCS in culture

Preparation method of a hyaluronic acid derivative capable of modifying the surface of cells and also having biocompatibility, biodegradability, and liver-targeting deliver property, and use of the hyaluronic acid derivative prepared thereby as a liver-targeting cell delivery system.

Need Cells?

Kick of Your Holiday Season with a 25 USD Gift Card
All cell orders this month will include a 25 USD Amazon Gift Card. This is to help celebrate the Holiday Season.

 Human Astroglia-Neurons Co-Cultures

Here are  your options.
Human Cells

Immortalized Human Brain Microglia Cells

Isolated from healthy human brain tissue

hN2™ Human Neurons Discovery & HT Screening Kits

Stable, Potent and Well Characterized
NeuroNet Pure Human Neurons Discovery and HTS Kits

Pure Population of hPSC Derived Neurons

Human Schwann Cells - New

Human spinal nerve derived primary cells

Human Brain Astrocytes-New

Derived from Cortex

Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) and Cells

Solutions for studying tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis.

Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSCs)

hMSCs Derived from Umbilical Cord Blood
Human Endothelial Cells-New

Artery, Microvascular, Vein &Umbilical Cord Derived
Human Fibroblasts-New

Pancreas and Neonatal Dermal Derived
Human Cardiomyocytes-New

Derived from hMSCs

Mouse and Rat Astrocytes and Neurons

We wish you a Joyous Holiday Season.

Infection of Mesenchymal Stem Cells

UCB derived huMSCs infected with RSVs

Here's cool customer data of our Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

Figure. RSV infects and replicates in human MSCs. Human MSCs grown on coverslips, infected with 1 MOI of RSV, and immunostained at 48 or 72 hours post-infection with a monoclonal antibody to RSV tagged with FITC (green), Evan’s blue dye (red) and DAPI (blue). Total magnification of images is 200X (inset 1000X) and scale bar is 50μm (A). RSVN transcripts detected in MSCs at 6, 12, 24 and 72 hours post infection normalized to mock (B). RSV titers (PFU/ml) isolated from the culture medium of infected and mock-infected MSCs is shown (C). Results representative of at least duplicate experiments. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0163709.

Your data is wanted. Just email rose@neuromics.com and claim your 50 USD reward. #datawanted!

Save 100 USD on Our New Cardiomyocytes

Potent, Pure and Easy to Culture

I am pleased to announce the addition of Human Cardiomyocytes to our Stem and Cell Based Assay Solutions.

Image: Human Cardiomyocyte culture.

These cells are optimized to provide addition options for in-vitro testing of drug to drug candidate toxicities allowing researchers to rule out the ineffective and potentially toxic small molecules/compounds early in the process.

I want to make it easy for you to buy and try. If you are not delighted with your results, I will replace free of charge or refund your purchase. Please also note the select positive feedback on our other primary and stem cells:
We recently used the hMSCs derived from Umbilical Cord Blood. Their performance was nothing less than excellent. We were highly impressed with their morphology and their doubling rate. In addition the cells respond very well to accutase and maintain their performance after passaging. We highly recommend this cell line. Rodney Nash, Ph.D, Georgia State University.
Combined Hippocampus, Cortex, and Ventricular Neurons: "I got 10 million cells total after extraction from the tissue. At Day 4 they all developed long axons. Thank you so much for the replacement." Dr. Lidia Gardner, University of Tennessee HSC.
Neuromics always provides excellent products and the best customer service. I highly recommend this company's antibodies and neuronal cultures. Kirsten Raehal, Purdue Pharma

I am always available for product related issues and questions. I cam be reached at direct phone: 612-801-1007 and pshuster@neuromics.com. Pete Shuster, CEO and Owner, Neuromics.

Bioactive FGF Basic Recombinant Protein in Action

Maintaining Sheep Mesenchymal Stem Cell Multipotency

We have been very selective in the Bioactive FGF2 or FGF-basic Recombinant Proteins we make available to Stem Cell Researchers. They are many options available so we are always encouraged when we see ours referenced in publications.

Here researchers used our FGF2 to expand Sheep Bone Marrow Stem Cells (BMSCs) in culture: Troy D Bornes, Nadr M Jomha, Aillette Mulet-Sierra and Adetola B Adesida. Hypoxic culture of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal stem cells differentially enhances in vitro chondrogenesis within cell-seeded collagen and hyaluronic acid porous scaffolds.Stem Cell Research & Therapy 2015, 6:84 doi:10.1186/s13287-015-0075-4.

These cells were used for chondrogenesis studies.

Expansion of BMSCs: Bone marrow aspirate collections containing 8 x 10⁷ MNCs were seeded within each 150-cm2 tissue culture flask. Culture medium composed of alpha-minimal essential medium (α-MEM) supplemented with 10% v/v heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS), penicillinstreptomycin-glutamine, 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonic acid (HEPES), and sodium pyruvate (all from Life Technologies, Burlington, Canada) was pipetted into each flask. Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2; Neuromics Inc., Edina, USA) was added at a concentration of 5 ng/ml in order to maintain cell multipotency. Nucleated cells were allowed to adhere and grow for seven days before the first media change under normoxia (ambient 21% O2) or hypoxia (low 3% O2) at 37°C in a humidified incubator containing 5% CO2. Flasks from the hypoxic incubator experienced short periods (less than 5 minutes) of normoxic exposure during media changes. Thereafter, the media were changed twice per week until 80% cell confluence was obtained. Adherent BMSCs were detached using 0.05% w/v trypsin-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA; Sigma-Aldrich Corp., Oakville, Canada) and expanded under the same oxygen tension (normoxia or hypoxia) as during isolation until P2 prior to scaffold seeding. Hereafter for brevity, BMSCs described by expansion oxygen tension alone (normoxia-expanded and hypoxia-expanded BMSCs) will refer to BMSCs that were isolated and expanded under normoxia and hypoxia, respectively. The time taken from plating of nucleated cells (P0) to reach approximately 80% confluence at P2, before experimental use, varied from three to four weeks.

I anticipate more publications on these important bioactive reports as demand for them has been growing.

The Dance Between The Immune System and Stem Cells

We named it the  immunoLink^TM 

We have been testing a growing number of Clients with our Quantibody Arrays. Many of of these clients have Autoimmune Disorder Diseases. These range from Rheumatoid Arthritis to Multiple Sclerosis.

These arrays are designed to precisely measure factors or markers (proteins) that are dysregulated by these diseases. We measure the levels of these biomarkers in our Clients' Blood serum. The arrays have also been used to measure the levels of markers in plasma and cell culture supernatants.

Based on results, we are finding links between immune system and stem cell health. We call this the immunoLink. The link shows that when immune/inflammatory response markers are elevated, markers related to stem cell health are depleted.

Here we see the immune/inflammatory response markers IL-6, MCP-1 and TNF-alpha are elevated in our Clients with autoimmunity (A) vs Healthy Controls (HC). We also see lower levels of G-CSF and GM-CSF in these Clients.

G-CSF and GM-CSF are know to play a role in increasing circulating stem cells. GM-CSF is also know to be secreted by Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSCs) AND GM-CSF has anti-apoptotic functions on neurons, and is neuroprotective in animal stroke models while G-CSF has a prominent effect on the differentiation of adult neural stem cells (see: BMC Neuroscience 2007, doi:10.1186/1471-2202-8-88).

To us, the immunoLink means achieving a balance between immune system and stem cell health.

We provide immune system balancing and stem cell activating therapies for our Autoimmune Disease Clients and Children with Autism. We first do baseline and follow on testing (each 6 months) to determine how well the therapies are working. Our goal is to bring the many markers we test to healthier levels. As stem cell transplants become more common, moderating levels of immune/inflammatory response in patients could improve outcomes. If you would like to learn more, you can contact me at pshuster@neuromics.com or 612-801-1007.

UCB Derived hMSC-MSCGro™ Media-The Wow Factor!

Neuromics-Vitro Biopharma Cells and Media Used to Treat Cerebral Ischemia

I have frequently posted successful outcomes with our Umbilical Cord Blood Derived Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells and MSCGro Expansion Media. These solutions have been tested head to head with other cell and media options and proven superior in cell behavior, doubling time and total number of passages. Competitive testing, until now, was done in culture.

I am pleased to present a study where our cells and media were selected for the the in vivo treatment of Cerebral Ischemia in Rats. This is a key part of building the foundation for human clinical trials: Chelluboina B, Klopfenstein JD, Pinson DM, Wang DZ, Veeravalli KK. Stem cell treatment after cerebral ischemia regulates the gene expression of apoptotic molecules. Neurochemical research. 39(8): 1511-21 DOI: 10.1007/s11064-014-1341-z
Protocol: Cryo-preserved hUCBSCs obtained from Neuromics/Vitro Biopharma (Golden, CO) were used to establish cultures in MSC-GRO low serum complete MSC medium according to the provided instructions. Cultures were maintained at 37 C in a humidified atmosphere containing 5 % CO2 with a change of culture medium twice a week. When the cell cultures were about 80 % to 90 % confluent, cells were split and subcultured. Cells were detached, washed twice with sterile phosphate buffered saline (PBS), counted and suspended in sterile saline prior to intravenous administration. The cells were intravenously injected (0.25 × 10(6) cells or 1 × 10(6) cells) via the tail vein.
Results:

Fig: Stem cell treatment after MCAO procedure reduces caspase-dependent apoptosis and brain damage. a Green fluorescence indicates cleaved caspase 3 protein expression. Representative cleaved caspase3 images were merged with respective DAPI images. Scale bar 100 lm. b Quantification of cleaved caspase-3 protein expression in the ipsilateral hemisphere of untreated [15] and hUCBSCs-treated animals. n C 3. Values are expressed as mean ± SEM; *p\0.05 compared to untreated MCAO subjected animals. c Representative hematoxylin and eosin stained paraffinembedded tissue sections from rat brains. Higher magnification images from the ischemic cortex and striatal regions of MCAOsubjected and untreated animals show interstitial edema and damaged neurons that have a condensed, irregular shaped and darkly stained nuclei which are absent or less frequent in control/hUCBSCs-treated brain sections. Each group consisted of a minimum of three animals. Scale bar value for the magnified images = 100 lm

This provides an in-depth understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the neuroprotective effects of mesenchymal stem cells derived from human umbilical cord blood in a rat model of transient focal cerebral ischemia. The study clearly demonstrates the potential of hUCBSCs to regulate various molecules responsible for cell death after transient focal cerebral ischemia followed by reperfusion.

There are some other important factors to consider:

• Potency and Number of Stem Cells Matter-To move this into clinical applications, Doctors must be allowed to expand Mesenchymal Stem Cells.
• Media used Matters-it must be best in class and not initiate immune inflammatory response.

We will continue to post studies utilizing Neuromics' Stem Cell Solutions.

Stem Cell Therapies without Transplants

Neuromics is partnering with Vitro Biopharma to develop stem cell activating/boosting therapies. 

Stem cell based therapies represent a shining light of hope for sufferers of chronic or life threatening diseases.  Though, for most, realization of this hope is light years into the future.

Dr. Jim Musick, CEO of Vitrobiopharma, recently blogged on the obstacles to approved therapies : "Transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells has been widely used as an approved treatment of leukemia, lymphoma and certain autoimmune conditions for the past fifty years. Other adult stem cells have demonstrated safety and efficacy in pre-clinical research and clinical trials. Mesenchymal stem cell transplants have been most widely studied in animals, especially horses and dogs. Many of these studies have focused on skeletal-muscular effects. There is significant support for safety and efficacy in osteoarthritis, including cartilage regeneration, pain and inflammation reduction as well as recovery of function using intra-articular MSC injections (1). There are fewer studies of neural stem cell and Satellite cell transplants, but these also suggest safety and efficacy in various conditions. There are minimal adverse effects of these stem cell transplants

However, there are significant obstacles to routine clinical use of non-hematopoietic adult stem cell transplantation. First, therapeutic effect is dependent on cell concentration and exhibits characteristic dose-response relationships, necessitating expansion and characterization of MSCs prior to transplantation. While MSCs readily proliferate in vitro, this may result in cellular/genetic modifications and the cell culture conditions necessary for expansion of clinical grade MSCs have not yet been determined. Autologous sources appear superior to allogeneic, but controlled expansion of autologous MSCs could be limited. Also, there are regulatory obstacles including the US FDA that considers expanded stem cells “altered” with associated regulatory burdens prior to approval. Thus, it is likely that MSC transplantation has a long and expensive pathway to attain routine clinical implementation."


We are in the process of developing a new paradigm.

Images: UCB Derived hMSCs Activation Assays

The development of this new model includes assays that enable us to determine optimal dosing for these activators (see above).  Here's more from Dr. Musick: "Stem cell activation awakens innate stem cell systems to optimize healing, cellular regeneration and functionality. This approach has numerous advantages over stem cell transplantation including innately autologous therapy without acute or long-term complications from introduction of allogeneic cellular materials. The approach involves administration of an activating agent or agents and effects are controlled by dosage/pharmacokinetics of the stem cell mobilizing, epigenetic or proliferative agents thus avoiding transplantation issues including possible cellular modification during expansion, contamination, etc. The pathway to regulatory approval is shorter and less costly since certain combinations of generic drugs may be effective and there are natural substances exhibiting apparent efficacy. Also, new drug targets are associated with this paradigm, such as specific combinations of proliferation and epigenetic agents.

Vitro Biopharma has been pursuing this approach for the past six months using patients treated within a clinical network. The primary approach is to resolve toxicity, infectivity and specific deficiencies thus restoring physiological conditions while monitoring clinical status. Optimum cellular functionality is viewed as a necessary condition to elicit therapeutic benefit from activation of endogenous stem cells. We also use proteomic arrays to quantify various cytokines, growth factors and neurotrophins to develop disease profiles. We establish baseline results and are now testing agents known to activate stem cells to determine effects on the biomarker disease profile as well as clinical status. We are also developing additional biometric analysis of stem cell activation including MSC mobilization to peripheral blood, serum content of key stem cell biomarkers and tools for imaging of stem cell activation.

Vitro Biopharma is nearing commercialization of stem cell-based assays utilizing live cell imaging of cell migration, proliferation and reprogramming for drug discovery and support of clinical trials. We are also developing a clinical trial testing of stem cell activation for treatment of TBI and advanced molecular diagnostics while developing new stem cell activators. Vitro Biopharma is committed to further development and testing of the activation of latent, internal stem cells since this approach is widely supported by pre-clinical research and obviates several problematic issues associated with the transplantation of adult stem cells."

I will continue post here developments with our exciting, new approach to stem cell related therapies.

References: 1. Jo, CH. et al., Stem Cells 32: 1254-1266, 2014 2. Sinha, M. et al., Science 344: 649, 2014

New Human Stress Selected Stem Cells

They Survive to Thrive

I am pleased to announce the addition of Stress Selected Stem Cells to our Cell Based Assays Offerings.

What makes these cells unique? They have:
•High potency, expansion rates and passaging.
•Low telomerase activity=low tumorigenesis properties
•High ability to migrate and differentiate to specific tissue types-High expression of migration/homing chemokines.

Image: Further morphology of these cultures is shown above as phase contrast images of two prominent clusters together with more firmly attached cells of classical mesenchymal morphology. This is day seven following exposure to stress. Scale bar is 50 mm.

We are offering these cells for 600 USD through June 30, 2014 (Save 150 USD)! Ordering options.

Check out our presentation learn more:

We can also conduct contract research to meet your specific requirements. To learn more you can contact me @612-801-1007 or pshuster@neuromics.com.

Autism, Inflammation and Stem Cell Enhancers

Proving the Therapeutic Value

We have been running Quantibody® Antibody Arrays on blood serum of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). All reside in areas of heavy industry in Central Europe. All have elevated levels of one or several heavy metals.

These assays are being run as part of our strategy of treating these children with natural stem cell enhancing supplements. Here are the average serum levels of 2 cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-alpha) and 1 related chemokine (CCL3). All of the children had elevated levels vs healthy controls:

Figure: Serum ASD levels vs Healthy Controls (pg/ml)

TNF-alpha and IL-6 promotes the immune/inflammatory response. These two cytokines are guided to sites (including the CNS) of infection or tissue damage by the chemokine CCL-3 and others. In the normal process, the site(s) of immune response are cleaned (the response) of infection and/or damaged tissue and then repaired. The key with autoimmune diseases and disorders, is that that this process becomes a continuous loop; hence, these cytokines and chemokines are elevated. If the loop is broken or down modulated, the the levels of these should decrease.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are immunomodulating and anti-inflammatory. We plan on testing candidate substances (all our currently available as natural supplements) on kinetic assays using our umbilical cord blood human mesenchymal stem cells. These will enable us to quantify  cell growth and expansion. We also plan on testing the best candidates on our human neurons to see the effects on cell behavior.

We will then determine safe dosing working with experts in the U.S. and Europe. During treatment, we will again be testing serum to see if the levels of these and other key Cytokines, Chemokines and Growth Factors. This will give proof as to to whether or not the treatments are working. If so, we should see the serum levels of these move toward to those of healthy controls.

I plan on making more data as it becomes available.

FGF and Stem Cells-Options Matter

Proven, Potent and Cost Effective Fibroblast Growth Factors (FGF).

Neuromics have a wealth of expertise in Stem Cells, Media and Growth Factors. FGF is an important component of Stem Cell Based Assays. Our goal is to provide an FGF that fits your requirements like "hand in glove".

Here's a small sampling:
ISO-kine bFGF-100% animal free and serum free-is produced in the endosperm tissue of barley grain (Hordeum vulgare), that exhibits up to 50 times less protease activity than E.coli or mammalian cells. Barley seed is void of any human or animal viral contaminants that could jeopardize your cell culture.

Images A: Expression of OCT4 (green) in the ORF group. B: Expression of TRA-1-60 (green) in the ORF group.

FGF basic (146 aa)-Anika Chowdhury, Louis W Bezuidenhout, Aillette Mulet-Sierra, Nadr M Jomha and Adetola B Adesida. Effect of interleukin-1β treatment on co-cultures of human meniscus cells and bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2013, 14:216 doi:10.1186/1471-2474-14-216

...15 million MNCs were seeded per 150 cm2 tissue culture flask. Culture media was alpha MEM supplemented with 10% heat inactivated fetal bovine serum, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 100 mM HEPES buffer, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 100 U/ml penicillin, 100 μg/ml streptomycin, 0.29 mg/ml L-glutamine (all from Invitrogen, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) and 5 ng/ml of basic FGF or FGF-2 (Neuromics, Edina, MN, USA). Plastic adherent MNCs were allowed to attach and proliferate for 7 days before the first media change under normal oxygen tension (21% O2; 95% air) at 37°C in a humidified incubator with 5% CO2...

Images: Histological characteristics of pellets formulated from mono-cultured MCs, mono-cultured BMSCs and co-cultures of MC and BMSCs after a total of 17 days culture in defined serum-free chondrogenic media. (A-B) Safranin O and collagen II immuno-histochemical staining of representative pellets from cells derived from the same donor. Magnification lens × 20; scale bar is 100 μm. Chowdhury et al. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2013 14:216 doi:10.1186/1471-2474-14-216

We are working hard to provide unique and cost effective solutions for your Stem Cell Based Assay Requirements.

hMSCs and Mesen-X Media in Actions

Customer Feedback on Neuromics' Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells

The demand for these UCB derived hMSCs continues to grow. We do everything we can to insure users' success. This includes replacing cells if there are any issues.

It is always great to get documented feedback. Dr. Rodney Nash, CEO of Javeen Biosciences used their new Mesen-X media to grow the cells. This GMP manufactured media is TOTALLY serum and animal free. It is shipped at room temperature and requires no attachment agents.

Here's Dr. Nash's feedback: We recently used the hMSCs derived from Umbilical Cord Blood. Their performance was nothing less than excellent. We were highly impressed with their morphology and their doubling rate. In addition the cells respond very well to accutase and maintain their performance after passaging. We highly recommend this cell line."

Neuromics' hMSCs grown using Mesen-X Media

The poperties of this Media makes it an excellent solution for drug discovery. Neuromics will be distributing in early 2014 so there will be much more data to follow.

Super-Charging Pluripotent Stem Cells

Adapting Stem Cells to Cellular Stress for Regenerative Medicine and Cell-Based Therapies

This approach for the isolation and characterization of a new population of adipose tissue (AT) derived pluripotent stem cells could represent a breakthrough. The authors have identified these cells as "Multilineage Differentiating Stress-Enduring (MUSE) Cells": Heneidi S, Simerman AA, Keller E, Singh P, Li X, et al. (2013) Awakened by Cellular Stress: Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Population of Pluripotent Stem Cells Derived from Human Adipose Tissue. PLoS ONE 8(6): e64752. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064752.

Highlights: Although adult stem cells have been considered an attractive source for cell therapy, their effectiveness and efficiency is hindered by a frequently low survival rate due to their exposure to a high cellular stress environment upon transplantation. This key limitation is observed when utilizing adult stem cells for regenerative purposes, as typical cell engraftment yields are extremely low (less than 3%). This low survival rate limiting in the use of stem cells for therapies.

The authors have developed methods for isolating MUSE Cells that are preconditioned to survive engraftments. These cells display down regulation of genes involved in cell death and survival, embryonic development, organism survival, cellular assembly and organization, mitosis, DNA replication, recombination and repair.

Figure 1. Isolation and morphologic characterization of Muse-ATs. (A) Schematic of Muse-AT isolation and activation from their quiescent state by exposure to cellular stress. Muse-AT cells were obtained after 16 hours, with incubation with collagenase in DMEM medium without FCS at 4°C under very low O2 (See Methods). (B) FACS analysis demonstrates that 90% of isolated cells are both SSEA3 and CD105 positive. (C) Muse-AT cells can grow in suspension, forming spheres or cell clusters as well as individual cells (see red arrows) or (D) Muse-AT cells can adhere to the dish and form cell aggregates. Under both conditions, individual Muse-AT cells reached a diameter of approximately 10µm and cell clusters reached a diameter of up to 50µm, correlating to stem cell proliferative size capacity. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064752.g001.

Muse-AT cell isolation requires a simple yet highly efficient purification technique, Muse-AT cells could provide an ideal source of pluripotent-like stem cells with the potential to have a critical impact on regenerative medicine and cell-based therapy. The capabilities of these cells need to be further validate. I will keep you posted.

Osteoblasts Off

I am pleased to announce we now have unlabeled and FITC-labeled Osteoblasts. These are differentiated from our Umbilical Cord Blood derived Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

They are designed for:

• Osteogenesis/Bone Formation Studies
• Compound/Small Molecule Testing
• Gene Expression Analysis

Images: (A) Human cord-blood MSCs were expanded in low-serum MSC-Gro^TM to confluence as shown here. (B) were differentiated in osteogenic MSC-Gro^TM. Early stage osteoblasts are shown here; the arrow shows early formation of mineralized matrix. (C)&(D) Mature osteoblasts stained positive for Alizarin red. Phase contrast image at 200 x, scale bar is 50 mmeters.

I will continue to update you on new Cell Based Assay Solutions.

QCing our hMSC Derived Chondrocytes

We routinely internally test our Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSCs) and terminally differentiated cells. I would like to share the latest on our hMCS Derived Human Chondrocytes.

Msc derived human chondrocytes in culture-01-2013 from Pete Shuster
We will soon be adding QC and related images for our Osteoblasts and Endothelial Cells.