I want to culture stem cells but I don't know which is the best medium for it? And how long can I maintain them as stem cells?
The medium for culturing human hematopoietic stem cells is quite rich with a lot of ingredients. For simplicity and small volumes, many use commercially available media from Stem Cell Technologies (such as StemSPAM SFEM) or from Sigma (Stemline). If that is not an option, there are several serum-free media described in the literature you can use. In general, they are IMDM-based with additions that almost always include albumin (human or bovine), transferrin, insulin, beta-mercaptoethanol, and LDL.
In addition to the basal media, cytokine combinations must be used to stimulate the stem cells to divide. The most popular classic combination is stem cell factor + thrombopoietin + flt3 ligand (appox. 50/25/50 ng/ml). If done at the right densities and feeding protocols, slow steady culture growth for several months should be possible.
- Badges
- Science topic