Technical library - RESOURCES

Our MSC Growth Medium XF provides a xeno-free culture system for human MSCs. It contains all growth factors and supplements except attachment- and spreading factors.

Therefore, culture vessels to be used with Mesenchymal Stem Cell Growth Medium XF must be precoated either with 1 μg/cm2 human fibronectin or 0.5 μg/cm2 human vitronectin according to the instruction manual of the manufacturer.

Alternatively, bovine fibronectin may be used.

You can use our standard DetachKit (C-41200) to subculture the human nasal epithelial cells. Some customers still prefer to use our DetachKit-2 (C-41202) as it has a lower trypsin/EDTA concentration but tests in our cell culture lab haven't revealed any adverse effects when using C-41200.

No, it is not necessary to use coated flasks, therefore we don´t recommend their usage in the Instruction Manual. However, for special applications, some of our customers use collagen-coated dishes.

Yes, our MSC Growth Medium XF (# C-28019) contains phenol red. The concentration is confidential.

But we also supply a phenol red-free variant: Mesenchymal Stem Cell Growth Medium XF, prf (# C-28018).

Problems in obtaining RNA with good yield and purity from mononuclear cells (hMNCs) are quite common. The reason for this is the large amount of free genomic DNA usually contained in MNC preparations. This DNA originates mostly from granulocytes which underwent lysis during the isolation of the MNC. The granulocytes are gone in the final MNC preparation, but their genomic DNA - released during cellular lysis - is still there "sticking" to the MNCs. Solution: Remove DNA prior to RNA purification by a DNase digestion step. Most commercial systems include the option for such a DNase digest.

Short protocol:

Trypsinize the cells as usual
Centrifuge and resuspend in suitable cold freezing medium at a density of 1-4 x 10⁶ cells/ml
Cool down the cells slowly to -80°C (approx. -1°C per min). We recommend to use "Mr. Frosty" from Nalge or "CoolCell" from Biocision, which both provide gradual and controlled cooling rates when placed in a -80°C freezer overnight.
Transfer the vials into liquid nitrogen for long-term storage

PromoCell HUVECs are freshly isolated from umbilical veins. They are cryopreserved at the end of primary culture. After revival, they can be propagated for at least 15 doublings and will senesce eventually. HUV-EC-C from ATCC is a hypodiploid human cell line of endothelial origin (umbilical vein). The modal chromosome number is 45 occurring in 72% of cells counted. The rate of polyploid cells is 15.8%. The cells have a life expectancy of 50 to 60 population doublings. This indicates that the cells are no longer "normal cells" but have undergone some degree of transformation.

Freshly isolated cells that are plated in a tissue culture vessel for the first time are named primary cells or primary culture (corresponding to P0). As soon as they have been subcultured, they should correctly be termed normal cells (> P1).

"Adult stem cells" are stem cells isolated from postnatal tissues that have retained the capacity for cell renewal as well as for differentiation into multiple lineages (multipotency).

PromoCell does not determine the number of passages but instead we calculate the population doublings (PD) that can be performed with the cells. The term passage only describes the process of detachment and replating and does not take into account different split ratios. The optimal split ratio is calculated from the actual cell yield after trypsinisation and the recommended plating density. In most of our cell types, the split ratio is usually between 1:3 and 1:6. Using 1:4 splits (i.e. increasing the growth surface by factor 4 each time), 15 doublings are achieved after 6-8 passages. For recommended plating densities, please view the respective Manual, section "Specifications".

PromoCell guarantee 15 population doublings (PD) for most Normal Human Cells (unless otherwise indicated on the Certificate of Analysis) when the recommended PromoCell media and the PromoCell DetachKit are used. For more information, please check the respective Manual, section "Specifications".

Please find attached a trouble shooting guide to identify possible reasons for poor detachment during subculture.