An Optimized, Chemically-Defined, Animal Component-Free Neural Basal Medium

December 08, 2016 • Written by The Dish

Neural progenitor cells (NPCs) derived from primary tissue and pluripotent stem cells have proven to be a powerful tool for gaining insight into the human nervous system as well as associated disease states. Impaired neurons and other differentiated cells that endogenously arise from NPCs are associated with many of the most challenging neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease. These differentiated neural cells serve as useful tools for modeling such diseases and provide a platform for the screening of potential drug therapies. In addition, researchers are just beginning to look into their direct use toward Cell Therapy applications where it may be possible to replace damaged or diseased neurons with healthy ones.

While they offer tremendous investigative and therapeutic potential, neuronal cells can be difficult to work with. For example, primary tissue containing NPC and their derivatives is not easily accessible, especially in living patients as the process for extraction is far too invasive. Notably, the use of pluripotent stem cell derived-NPCs provides a means of circumventing this issue and even presents a potentially unlimited source of patient and disease specific cells that can be used for a myriad of applications. Unfortunately, these pluripotent stem cell derived-NPCs can be expensive and time consuming to generate and are also challenging to expand and maintain in culture which puts a high burden on the cell culture scientist as well as the cell culture medium.

As a way to meet these demands, Irvine Scientific has recently launched their PRIME-XV^® Neural Basal Medium, a chemically-defined, animal component-free medium that supports a range of applications, including culture of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived-NPCs that retain their multipotency (Figure 1).

PRIME-XV Neural Basal Medium retains neuronal differentiation potential of human neural progenitor cells

human ipsc derived npcs — Figure 1: Human iPSC-derived NPCs were cultured in PRIME-XV Neural Basal Medium supplemented with PRIME-XV IS21 Supplement. The differentiated cells were labeled with (A) mouse anti-MAP2 (ThermoFisher Scientific, Clone M13) and (B) mouse neuron-specific anti-beta III Tubulin (R&D Systems, Clone TUJ1) to detect neurons (red). The nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue). Immunofluorescence images were taken at 10X magnification.

It can also be used for long-term neuronal culture when coupled with the PRIME-XV^® IS21 Neural Supplement. The combination of the PRIME-XV^® Neural Basal Medium and supplement are designed to provide an optimized media for maintaining viability and morphology (Figure 2).

Maintain viability, morphology and marker expression in long term neuronal cultures

Figure 2 rat hippocampal neurons — Figure 2: Rat hippocampal neurons cultured in PRIME-XV Neural Basal Medium/ IS21 Supplement for 14 days. Positive expression of neuronal marker MAP2 and negative expression of astrocyte marker GFAP demonstrates the maintenance of neurons when IS21 Supplement was used.

PRIME-XV neural basal medium, when used with other neural supplements also supports multi-lineage differentiation potential of NPCs.

Rat cortical neural progenitor cells — Figure 3: PRIME-XV Neural Basal Medium retains multi-lineage differentiation potential of rat cortical neural progenitor cells. Rat cortical NPCs were cultured in PRIME-XV Neural Basal Medium supplemented with N-2 Supplement to induce differentiation. The differentiated cells were labeled with (A) sheep anti- GFAP (R&D Systems) to detect astrocytes (red), and mouse neuron-specific anti-beta III Tubulin (R&D Systems, Clone Tuj1) to detect neurons (green) and (B) mouse anti-oligodendrocyte marker O4 (R&D Systems, Clone O4) to detect oligodendrocytes (green). The nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue). Immunofluorescence images were taken at 10X magnification.

Other key benefits as identified by Irvine Scientific include:

The PRIME-XV^® Neural Cell Culture Solutions, which includes the basal medium, expansion medium, supplement and differentiation factors are capable of supporting the expansion of rat, mouse and human NPCs. This cross-species compatibility facilitates the transition from rodent models to human cell culture studies (Figure 4).

Applications for PRIME-XV^® Neural Cell Culture Solutions

Applications for PRIME-XV® Neural Cell Culture Solutions

Minimized Need for Lot Testing

Maintaining long-term viability of primary mammalian neurons in vitro can be challenging and is often impeded by lot-to-lot variation. PRIME-XV^® Neural Basal Medium is chemically-defined and animal component-free, thereby reducing the burden of lot testing and eliminating risk of pathogen contamination. In the case of PRIME-XV^® IS21 Supplement, strict control of raw materials and pre-selection of the BSA minimize lot-to-lot variation, thus facilitating transition from research to the clinic.

In addition, Irvine Scientific manufactures their cell culture products in cGMP compliant and FDA-regulated facilities, which provides the level of quality, consistency and reliability required when working with mammalian cell culture media.

For more product information, please visit PRIME-XV® Neural Basal Medium.

For more information or to obtain samples, please contact Irvine Scientific:

Tel: +1 949 261 7800; Email: getinfo@irvinesci.com

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