New Products to Advance Research on Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Showcased at ELRIG

STEMCELL Technologies Inc. have announced the launch of TeSR-E8, a novel medium for human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, and new STEMdiff kits for differentiation of these cell types. SelectScience stopped by the STEMCELL Technologies Inc. booth at ELRIG to find out more.

STEMCELL Technologies Inc. (STEMCELL) has released a series of new products to advance research and translational applications for human pluripotent stem cells.

TeSR™-E8™ is a highly defined feeder-free culture medium for human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). TeSR-E8 contains only the most essential 8 components required for maintenance of hPSCs, providing a simpler medium for the culture of pluripotent stem cells. TeSR-E8 is based on the E8 formulation developed by the laboratory of Dr. James Thomson (University of Wisconsin-Madison), the research group behind the formula for mTeSR™1 – the most widely-published feeder-free culture medium for pluripotent stem cells.

The STEMdiff™ Definitive Endoderm Kit is the world’s first complete commercial kit for directed hPSC differentiation to the definitive endoderm lineage. This new kit will be available for purchase from September 2012 and will expand the STEMdiff product line, which currently includes STEMdiff Neural Induction Medium for hPSC differentiation to neural progenitor cells and STEMdiff APEL™ for hPSC differentiation to multiple lineages. The STEMdiff products are optimized for use with mTeSR™1 and TeSR™2 feeder-free culture media.

“We are delighted to build on our track record for providing high quality cell culture media to stem cell scientists, by introducing new products that work as an integrated system,” said Dr. Allen Eaves, CEO and President of STEMCELL Technologies. “We are excited to give scientists products that are designed to work together and extend from reprogramming through to differentiation.”

By adding TeSR-E8 and the new STEMdiff kits to its portfolio, STEMCELL Technologies continues to provide the most complete, defined system of integrated tools for human pluripotent stem cell research. These high-quality reagents for defined pluripotent cell culture increase experimental reproducibility, eliminate variable biologic elements in the culture media and increase the clinical relevance for culture of hPSCs.