Support & FAQs

The EMA/410/01-Rev3 regulation is not directly applicable to our products as it only applies to medicinal products and the use of animal-derived products as raw materials, which we do not use in any of our manufacturing processes. However, for peace of mind, we are in the process of confirming that everything we use both directly and indirectly for manufacturing our products is compliant with the regulation.

• Lyophilized store at -20°C or -80°C for up to 2 years
• Reconstituted store at -20 °C or -80 °C
• We recommend that single use aliquots are prepared to avoid freeze-thaw cycles

1 – Check the resuspension solution recommendation on the product datasheet or use the quick reconstitution solution finder above*.

2 – Centrifuge briefly before reconstituting to ensure all powder is at the bottom of the vial.

3 – Add sufficient reconstitution solution to give a protein concentration of 0.05–1.0 mg/ml.

4 – Allow the reconstituted sample to stand at room temperature for >1 minute before gently agitating, do not vortex and avoid foaming.

5 – Prepare single-use aliquots whenever possible to avoid freeze-thaw cycles which can damage the proteins and reduce bioactivity. Store aliquots at -80 °C (or -20 °C)**.

NOTES

*Physiological buffers may cause precipitation of proteins during reconstitution. This is especially important for TGF beta family and other related growth factors so it is very important that these are reconstituted in Solution A (10 mM HCl, 1:1000 dilution of concentrated HCl).

**All our proteins are supplied carrier protein-free. If compatible with your work and you are storing at lower concentrations (<50 μg/ml) adding carrier protein is highly advised (usually 1% w/v high purity BSA or equivalent – ensure all buffers are sterile-filtered).

The miniature vial format is ideal for testing or smaller-volume workflows. Each miniature supplement vial is sufficient to make 50.125 ml of HiDef-B8 complete medium, or one-tenth of the amount of standard vials. Please see our user guide for further details.

StemBeads® can be easily removed prior to analysis by washing 1-2 times with PBS, DMEM, F12 or any other basal medium preferred. For suspension cultures, there are a variety of strainer pore sizes to allow for separation. Cells cultured with StemBeads® have been used in a variety of downstream applications, including but not limited to: immunofluorescence, FACS, RNA/DNA extraction, nucleofection, differentiation etc.

The protein concentration can be adjusted based on the number of StemBeads® that you use. The release rate has a linear correlation with the amount of StemBeads® used. For example, 8 µl of StemBeads® per ml of media releases at a concentration of 10 ng/ml. However, if you desire half of that concentration, such as 5 ng/ml, then adjust the concentration to 4 µl of StemBeads® per ml media to achieve the concentration of 5 ng/ml.

With growth factor levels stabilized, spontaneous differentiation is reduced, pluripotency is increased, and feeding schedules are reduced to only 2-3 times per week. StemBeads are added to your medium to achieve a desired growth factor release, sustained over several days. Following, the beads are washed from the culture, the medium is replaced, and the process repeated as required.

No, this is not a problem or indication of cell quality. Extensive testing has been performed to access the cell quality when using StemBeads®. All phenotypic and functional assays have shown cell quality as good or better than current feeding regimens. For best assessment of cells, wash cells once prior to observation.

HiDef® B8 is a complete, serum-free, feeder-free medium for human pluripotent stem cells.

HiDef® B8 maintains PSCs for >50 passages without karyotypic abnormalities, supports weekend-free feeding, and is compatible with multiple matrices and passaging methods.

Store the 400x supplement at -20°C; prepared complete medium can be kept at 2–8°C for up to 2 weeks.

Yes. PSCs can be transitioned to HiDef-B8 either 1. directly or 2. by gradual adaptation, in active cell cultures or at time of thawing. Please see our transition guide for further details.

Qkine TGF-β1 PLUS™ protein is the first entirely animal origin-free recombinant TGF-β1 protein, TGF-β family members are difficult to express in E. coli due to their complex folding so are only commercially available expressed in animal cells. Qkine have optimized the production of TGF-β1 to produce a pure animal origin-free protein or highly reproducible results and compatible with chemically-defined stem cell media.

Serum replacement for adherent cell culture in reduced-serum conditions.

To 4% or less for many cell types.

HiDef® ITS works with primary cells, immortalized lines, and pluripotent stem cells (PSCs).

Ready-CEPT® contains chroman-1 (a ROCK inhibitor), emricasan (a pan-caspase inhibitor), polyamines (putrescine, spermine, and spermidine; polycations for cell growth support), and trans-ISRIB (an ISR inhibitor).