New Line of Culture Dishes Simplifies Stem Cell Research

A new line of energy-treated polystyrene microplates for animal component-free growth of stem cells and other fastidious cells is now available for cell biologists and other life scientists.

Culture plates with the newly patented "Nunclon Vita Surface” have been added to the rapidly expanding catalog of cell growth products at Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Milford, MA, USA).


The surface of Nunclon Vita plates has been activated so that it enables direct attachment, colony formation, and growth of human embryonic stem cells (ESC) and induced pluripotent stem cells (IPS), without the need for feeder cells or matrix coatings. In media supplemented with a Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) inhibitor, human ESCs can be cultured on Nunclon Vita plates for at least 10 passages without any loss of pluripotency, or karyotype changes. One-hour treatment with 10 nanomolar Y-27632 blocks apoptosis of dissociated cultured human embryonic stem cells, increasing cloning efficiency by 25% and sustaining survival up to 30 passages. Y-27632 is a potent, ATP-competitive inhibitor of Rho-associated protein kinases including p160 ROCK and ROCK-II.

Use of Nunclon Vita plates is not restricted to stem cells. For example, human embryonic kidney cells (HEK) can be cultured with no coating with improved attachment and growth in comparison to standard tissue culture treated culture ware. Addition of the ROCK inhibitor Y-27632 to the media enhances HEK293 attachment and growth on the Nunclon Vita Surface.

By eliminating matrix coatings and feeder cells, the Nunclon Vita surface reduces culture variability and is less labor-intensive than cell lines that require matrix coatings or feeder cells.

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Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.