Expansion Media

Healthy stem cells naturally differentiate and may do so spontaneously while in culture. However, if the desire is to proliferate and expand the stem cells ex vivo while retaining differentiation potential, the cells must be cultured in appropriate conditions. For instance, hematopoietic stem cells have been found to expand with the addition of key cytokines such as IL-3 and IL-6. Stem cells such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) traditionally have been cultured with classical media containing additives such as feeder cells and fetal bovine serum. However, for therapeutic research applications, these components are sometimes less preferred over more defined and human-sourced supplements. Several commercial products are available, dedicated to specific stem cell types and feature convenient ready-to-use, serum-free formulations.