In 2006, Kazutoshi Takahashi and Shinya Yamanaka made a revolutionary breakthrough when they reprogrammed terminally differentiated, lineage-restricted adult somatic cells into a pluripotent state via the expression of transcription factors Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc.1 Now, researchers can differentiate reprogrammed induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into any cell type and use them for numerous applications, including disease research, drug development, and personalized regenerative stem cell therapy.2
Growing iPSCs in vitro requires a culture medium, growth factors, and an extracellular matrix. The culture medium quality profoundly impacts cell growth, viability, and differentiated cell type. Stem cell researchers desire stable and consistent culture media to support the long-term expansion of iPSCs and to achieve large cell quantities for downstream differentiation protocols.
Researchers typically culture iPSCs in medium containing animal-derived serum and growth factors. However, serum composition and performance are variable, which affects cell culture quality leading to smaller colony sizes, excessive differentiation, ...
