Stem Cells are undifferentiated cells that can differentiate into specialised cells and can divide and proliferate. They are particularly interesting as a source of healthy human cells for in vitro testing of drugs.

The use of in vitro cell culture in many sectors of research has been hampered by the lack of availability for healthy human cells. Cells from donors are often from patients who have been undergoing drug therapy or already have tumours or other diseases. Animal cells are not an alternative as it is now increasingly recognised that they do not allow the development of predictive models for humans.

Stem cells fall into two main classifications: Embryonic stem cells (ESCs), and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The factors that control and steer the differentiation (towards the mature phenotype) or de-differentiation (towards the iPSC) are becoming increasingly understood and include both physical and chemical factors. The Kirkstall Quasi Vivo^® system provides an ideal tool for the study of stem cell differentiation and de-differentiation.

Niches using scaffolds or textured cell culture surfaces can be created inside the Quasi Vivo^® system. Flow of media is a key part of creating a physiologically relevant environment mimicking what happens in the body. The following features of Quasi Vivo^® provide important benefits for stem cell research:

• Ability to control and vary oxygen tension in the in-vitro environment independent of the background level in the incubator.
• Ability to control and vary the pressure and flow stress experienced by the cells under culture.
• Multiple interconnected chambers provide an easy way to study the interaction between different cell types in a co-culture environment, particularly the conditioning of media and its influence on cell differentiation.
• Models which allow the scale-up of cell-culture protocols and the optimisation of growth, proliferation and differentiation.

Contact our application specialists at expert@kirkstall.org to find out how Quasi Vivo^® can help you set up and optimise your experiments or put you in touch with other researchers through the Quasi Vivo^® user group.