[Nat Commun] Laminin E8 fragments support efficient adhesion and expansion of dissociated human pluripotent stem cells
5 December 2012
[Nature Communications] Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have the potential to provide an infinite source of tissues for regenerative medicine. Although defined xeno-free media have been developed, culture conditions for reliable propagation of hESCs still require considerable improvement. The Norio Nakatsuji lab at Kyoto University and the 
Kiyotoshi Sekiguchi lab at Osaka University have shown that recombinant E8 fragments of laminin isoforms (LM-E8s), which are the minimum fragments conferring integrin-binding activity, promote greater adhesion of hESCs and hiPSCs than do Matrigel and intact laminin isoforms. Furthermore, LM-E8s sustain long-term self-renewal of hESCs and hiPSCs in defined xeno-free media with dissociated cell passaging. The labs successfully maintained three hESC and two hiPSC lines on LM-E8s in three defined media for 10 passages. hESCs maintained high level expression of pluripotency markers, had a normal karyotype after 30 passages and could differentiate into all three germ layers. This culture system allows robust proliferation of hESCs and hiPSCs for therapeutic applications. [Read more]
These findings have received nationwide media coverage in Japan.
Publication information
Laminin E8 fragments support efficient adhesion and expansion of dissociated human pluripotent stem cells
Takamichi Miyazaki, Sugiko Futaki, Hirofumi Suemori, Yukimasa Taniguchi, Masashi Yamada, Miwa Kawasaki, Maria Hayashi, Hideaki Kumagai, Norio Nakatsuji, Kiyotoshi Sekiguchi*, Eihachiro Kawase*
Nature Communications | Published online 4 November 2012 | DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2231