Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Marker Antibody Panel

Five antibodies to verify human stem cell pluripotency:

Why Use Molecular Markers to Verify Human Stem Cell Pluripotency?

Stem cell pluripotency can be characterized functionally by their ability to differentiate into cells of the three vertebrate germ layers. However, functional verification is time-consuming, expensive, and is less conducive to routine stem cell culture screening or high-throughput analysis of stem cell pluripotency.

In addition to the abili ty to give rise to all cell types, a number of molecular markers have been identified to characterize the pluripotent status of stem cells. For example, human pluripotent stem cells express the cell surface proteins SSEA-4 and Alkaline Phosphatase and the transcription factors Oct-3/4 and Nanog.

Analyzing human stem pluripotency using marker antibodies:

• Promotes the identification and expansion of high quality, undifferentiated stem cell populations.
• Provides increased confidence in pluripotent status through the use of multiple markers.
• Defines the starting stem cell population to reduce experimental variation.
• Is a straightforward, cost-effective way to verify stem cell pluripotency.

This kit contains the following antibodies to verify human stem cell pluripotency:

Positive Markers

• Mouse Anti-Human Alkaline Phosphatase Monoclonal Antibody
• Goat Anti-Human Nanog Antigen-affinity Purified Polyclonal Antibody
• Goat Anti-Human Oct-3/4 Antigen-affinity Purified Polyclonal Antibody
• Mouse Anti-Human SSEA-4 Monoclonal Antibody

Negative Marker

• Mouse Anti-Human SSEA-1 Monoclonal Antibody

Each antibody is supplied as 25 µg; if reconstituted in 250 µL, this provides reagents sufficient for processing the equivalent of eight 300 µL immunocytochemistry samples or 25 flow cytometry samples at the recommended concentrations.

Stability and Storage

Reagents are stable for 12 months from date of receipt when stored in the dark at 2 ^°C to 8 ^°C.

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of pre-implantation embryos. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be generated by somatic cell reprogramming following the exogenous expression of specific transcription factors (Oct-3/4, KLF4, SOX2, and c-Myc). These cell types are capable of unlimited, undifferentiated proliferation in vitro and still maintain the capacity to differentiate into a wide variety of somatic cells. In this capacity, pluripotent stem cells have widespread clinical potential for the treatments of heart disease, diabetes, spinal cord injury, and a variety of neurodegenerative disorders.

R&D Systems offers a wide range of products to support pluripotent stem cell culture and differentiation. Mouse embryonic fibroblasts may be used to maintain and expand pluripotent stem cells in an undifferentiated state. We also offer defined culture media, which are specifically optimized for use with human or rodent pluripotent stem cells. In addition, R&D Systems offers a variety of products to assess differentiation status and identify specific stem cell types of interest, including panels of marker antibodies, primer pairs, multi-color flow cytometry kits, and specialized verification kits.