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Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) have been proposed as a source of cells for therapeutic cell and gene delivery to many different tissues in the body, and for the study of human development. Despite their promise, relatively little is known about the normal cellular processes utilized by hESC, which in turn, has limited their development for therapeutic applications. There are many barriers to the widespread study of hESC including the necessity for a high degree of expertise and training for investigators, and the labor-intensive nature of the development, maintenance and testing of good quality undifferentiated hESC stocks. Access to a hESC core facility at CHLA will decrease the technical development time for investigators without previous hESC experience, increase the productivity of hESC studies and thereby lead to funding opportunities for stem cell research.
Suppliers of hESC lines provide 1-2 vials of each cell line for $500-$10,000. There is a very low recovery of hESC cells (<0.1%) making it difficult for scientists new to hESC culture to successfully recover, expand and develop high quality, undifferentiated, pluripotent hESC stocks. The core will develop and test frozen stocks for investigators.
The core will perform routine tests of pluripotency on stem cell samples from investigators’ personal stocks.
It takes ~10-12 weeks for a successfully thawed vial of hESC to recover and expand to enough cells for a small experiment. Furthermore, extensive quality testing is required to ensure that the cells are pluripotent, and have not drifted genetically or epigenetically before experimental usage. The core will maintain in culture two commonly used hESC lines and provide a quality tested working stock to investigators licensed to use them with ~2-3 weeks notice.
A comprehensive wet-lab course will be taught which will provide investigators with the technical expertise to be able to successfully culture two different hESC lines including: develop primary feeder layers, develop frozen stocks, maintain undifferentiated hESC, perform quality control assays, perform standard differentiation assays. For the initial one month period following the training program, the core technologists will be available for 1 hour each weekday for investigators to bring their cultures for checking and troubleshooting. The on-going sessions will provide a significant benefit lacking in the short-term commercial courses, and further help establish hESC research at CHLA.
Contact us for further information.
Contact us for further information.
The primary focus of the Embryonic Stem Cell Core is to provide technical support for researchers to initiate human embryonic stem cell research in their own laboratories by offering the following services:
a. Provide technical training for establishing and maintaining human embryonic cells. A comprehensive wet-lab course will be taught which will provide investigators with the technical expertise to be able to successfully culture two different hESC lines including: develop primary feeder layers, develop frozen stocks, maintain undifferentiated hESC, perform quality control assays, perform standard differentiation assays. For the initial one month period following the training program, the core technologists will be available for 1 hour each weekday for investigators to bring their cultures for checking and troubleshooting. The on-going sessions will provide a significant benefit lacking in the short-term commercial courses, and further help establish hESC research at CHLA.
b. Develop high quality hESC frozen stocks for investigators. Suppliers of hESC lines provide 1-2 vials of each cell line for $500-$10,000. There is a very low recovery of hESC cells (<0.1%) making it difficult for scientists new to hESC culture to successfully recover, expand and develop high quality, undifferentiated, pluripotent hESC stocks. The core will develop and test frozen stocks for investigators.
c. Provide high-quality, tested working stocks of hESC for trained investigators. It takes ~10-12 weeks for a successfully thawed vial of hESC to recover and expand to enough cells for a small experiment. Furthermore, extensive quality testing is required to ensure that the cells are pluripotent, and have not drifted genetically or epigenetically before experimental usage. The core will maintain in culture two commonly used hESC lines and provide a quality tested working stock to investigators licensed to use them with ~2-3 weeks notice.
d. Perform standard tests for stem cell pluripotency and differentiation. The core will perform routine tests of pluripotency on stem cell samples from investigators’ personal stocks.
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
Smith Research Tower 3rd Floor
Carolyn Lutzko, PhD
Director
Telephone: (323) 361-4130
Fax: (323) 361-3566
Email: clutzko@chla.usc.edu
Contact us for further information.