Growth factors and cytokines for neural stem cell and brain organoid culture
Neuroscience is the study of the nervous system, the brain, and understanding neurological development. Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s disease have been traditionally difficult to research given the complexity of neural tissue and the availability of model systems. However, advances in stem cell biology have allowed the generation of human brain organoids from induced human pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) which model the unique features of the brain in a complex tissue-like environment. iPSCs can be differentiated into many neural cell types including cortical or dopaminergic neurons, astrocytes, chondrocytes, adipocytes, microglia, and neural organoids. This advancement in stem cell research and organoid models is progressing the field of regenerative medicine for central nervous system disorders.
Improving reproducibility in neural and cerebral organoid cultures is essential but a challenge for the industry. Using animal-free growth factors could improve reproducibility as they have higher lot-to-lot consistency and eliminates the risks of contaminating growth factors, viruses, prions, and other animal-derived ingredients. All growth factors and cytokines from Qkine pass stringent biochemical and bioactivity quality control testing, giving you complete confidence in your reagents for your neural stem cell cultures.
Selected products for neural stem cell culture
Technote: Qkine VEGF 165 is 2-fold more bioactive than alternative supplier
VEGF-165 has several applications in neural stem cell and organoid research, including differentiation and maturation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells, Schwann cells, astrocytes, and microglia.
The bioactivity of Qkine and an alternative supplier of VEGF165 were compared directly using a luciferase reporter cell line that stably expresses KDR (VEGFR-2) receptor.
Qkine Qk048 VEGF165 : EC50=0.55 ng/ml (14.4 pM), data from Qk048 lot #104393, n=3
Supplier 1 VEGF165 : EC50=1.44 ng/ml (37.6 pM), n=3
