Study Overview
iPS cells were created by Professor Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University. These special cells can change into many kinds of cells in the body and can continue to grow for a long time. iPS cells can be made from cells taken from our own bodies. Because of these features, iPS cells are expected to be useful in many areas, such as cell therapy, disease research, and new drug development.
However, experiments using iPS cells often require a lot of cost, skill, and time. Our company uses the knowledge and experience of our skilled researchers to support many kinds of iPS cell studies and development projects. We can help with everything from background research and study planning to experiments and data analysis, according to each customer’s needs.
We are also working to expand our iPS cell-related services step by step. In addition to our current services, we can also design and carry out custom test systems based on your requests. Please feel free to contact us.
*ACEL, Inc. has signed a patent license agreement with iPS Academia Japan, Inc. for the iPS cell studies listed below. Because of this, customers do not need to make a separate license agreement with iPS Academia Japan, Inc.
Photo of human iPS cells
List of contracted services
Examination of iPS cell culture conditions
Cell adhesion, cell proliferation, maintenance of undifferentiated state, cryopreservation conditions, etc.
We will conduct evaluation tests on the overall cell culture of human iPS cells.
Human iPS cells are very sensitive to their growing environment. If the culture medium is not changed properly, or if the cells are handled incorrectly during splitting or freezing, the cells may change and no longer keep their original healthy state. They may also lose their ability to change into many different kinds of cells. In addition, the best way to grow iPS cells can differ depending on the type of cells and how they were originally prepared, so many different methods are used and improved over time.
We test and evaluate your iPS cell culture conditions, such as culture media, compounds, dishes and other culture tools, coating materials, cell removal solutions, and freezing solutions, and provide study data based on the results. We offer many kinds of evaluation studies for iPS cells, including cell growth, cell attachment, maintenance of a healthy cell state, and ability to change into different cell types. We will suggest the best testing system to match your needs.
①Adhesion evaluation study
Human iPS cells are usually grown together with support cells called feeder cells. However, for regenerative medicine and many kinds of cell studies, it is better and easier to use a culture method that does not require feeder cells. In feeder-free culture, plates or dishes are usually coated in advance with special materials to help the cells attach and grow. However, these materials are often expensive, can vary between products, and may require complicated handling. For this reason, there is a need for a simpler, more stable, and lower-cost method for growing human iPS cells.
We perform studies to evaluate how well iPS cells attach and grow using reagents, coating materials, and culture media developed by our customers.
We can also evaluate cell shape, cell growth, maintenance of a healthy cell state, and the ability of the cells to change into different cell types after attachment.
②Undifferentiated state evaluation study
Human iPS cells keep their original immature state through the action of several important genes, including OCT3/4, NANOG, and SOX2. In addition, iPS cells in this healthy undifferentiated state are known to strongly show certain markers on the cell surface, such as SSEA-4, TRA-1-60, and TRA-1-81, as well as high activity of an enzyme called alkaline phosphatase.
By checking the expression and activity of these markers and genes, we can evaluate whether iPS cells maintain a good undifferentiated state under the culture conditions you would like to test. We can also perform analysis of many other genes based on your needs.
Immunostaining of undifferentiated markers in human iPS cells (in-house test data)
Evaluation of conditions for inducing differentiation of iPS cells
We will conduct evaluation studies to investigate differentiation induction systems for target cells
Human iPS cells have the ability to change into almost any kind of cell in the body. Today, many methods are being developed to guide iPS cells into becoming different types of cells.
We perform comparison studies of different conditions used to change iPS cells into various cell types. These studies are carried out to support drug discovery screening, develop new methods, and improve existing methods for cell differentiation. We also evaluate how drugs and test compounds affect the efficiency of iPS cell differentiation by checking cell markers and studying the functions of the differentiated cells. We can also compare large numbers of samples using real-time PCR, plate readers, high-content screening equipment and more.
Beating of human iPS cell-derived cardiomyocytes (video)
*Studies will be mainly conducted by those with doctoral degrees.
