Feeder- and serum-free culture medium for long-term maintenance of human embryonic stem cells.

摘要

There have been many challenges to date in developing culture systems that can consistently grow and maintain large supplies of safe and reliable clinical-grade human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). However, a new report holds promise for the development of such culture systems, in showing their ability to support long-term maintenance of hESC cultures through routine single-cell passaging, using a unique combination of three small-molecule inhibitors. "What is significant about this work is that we've been able to very rapidly develop a chemically defined culture medium to replace serum and feeders for cultivating clinical-grade hESCs, thereby removing a major roadblock in the area of regenerative medicine," enthused Chih-Ming Ho, the Ben Rich-Lockheed Martin Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science (CA, USA), and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.