Splitting hPSCs with Dispase | Prepared by: |
Date Submitted |
April 4, 2012 |
Submitted by - |
Mark Tomishima tomishim@mskcc.org |
Adapted from - |
SKI Stem Cell Research Facility protocols |
Contributors - |
Mark Tomishima |
Affiliation(s) - |
Sloan-Kettering Institute |
This protocol outlines the techniques used to routinely passage hPSCs in the SKI Stem Cell Research Facility at Sloan-Kettering. We prefer to culture our cells on mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) but occasionally grow the cells feeder free for particular applications, such as nucleofection, viral transduction or karyotyping.
We use Dispase for all applications requiring colony passage including feeder-dependent and independent expansion as well as for cryopreservation.
Use the Dispase specified in Materials: not all Dispases are the same. This protocol will only work for this preparation. We have used Worthington in the past too, but it is stronger and requires a second wash. When passaging cells without feeders, they are exquisitely sensitive to any residual enzyme left with the cells. Make sure you wash with a large volume and wash 2 times. If you are having trouble with the cells not attaching, you might even want to wash 3 times.
Keep in mind that as long as the colonies are still attached, you can wash the colonies by adding media/PBS to the dish and aspirating in place. This is much faster than spinning them down. At least one wash/spin should be done after you have detached colonies, however.
Dispase can not be inhibited by media so it is not necessary to use complex media to wash cells. Dilution is the only way to eliminate the enzyme.
Preplating to remove residual feeders:
If you are moving your hPSCs from feeders to a feeder independent condition, you might want to preplate cells to remove feeders. Basically, you prepare your cells as you normally would be let them attach to gelatin-coated tissue culture treated plastic for one hour in the incubator. Under these conditions, the MEFs will adhere to the dish but the hPSCs will poorly attach to this plastic. After the hour incubation, remove the dish, pipette over the surface of the dish gently to dislodge the hPSCs, and transfer to a new Matrigel-coated dish leaving the attached fibroblasts behind.
Reagents | Supplier | Catalog# | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Dispase 5 mg/ml |
StemCell Technologies |
07913 |
Do not substitute! |
Matrigel |
BD Bioscience |
352340 |
We only use lots over 10mg/ml protein |
45 µm nylon mesh strainer |
BD Falcon |
352340 |
|
FGF2 |
R&D Systems |
233-FB-001MG/CF |
Dissolve in PBS with 0.1% BSA to 100 ug/ml |
hPSC media
800 ml DMEM/F12 |
Life Technologies |
11330-032 |
200 ml KSR |
Life Technologies |
10828-028 |
5 ml L-glutamine |
Life Technologies |
25030-081 |
10 ml MEM NEAA |
Life Technologies |
11140-050 |
1 ml 2-mercaptoethanol |
Life Technologies |
21985-023 |
Sterile filter, then add FGF2 to 6 ng/ml. Use within 2 weeks.
This page was last modified on October 18, 2012