Stemtag Stem Cell Colony Formation Assay (Cell Recovery Compatible) Assay Kit

Background: Several recent studies have revealed that stem cells from various types of self-renewing tissue could be cultured in suspension. For example, neuronal stem cells grow as neurospheres that do not depend on a particular substrate. Similarly, mammary stem cells or stem cells from skin can also grow in suspension using similar culture conditions. These cells differentiate into various cell lineages after exposure to extracellular matrix molecule (ECM) or serum. Additionally, various cancer stem cells have been successfully grown under these conditions. These results demonstrate that stem cells can survive and proliferate in anchorage-independent culture model, and clonogenic activity is a sensitive indicator of undifferentiated stem cells. Traditionally, the colony formation assay is a common method to monitor anchorage-independent growth, which measures proliferation in a semisolid culture media after 3-4 weeks by manual counting of colonies. Standard assays are usually performed in 100-mm or 60 mm dishes, where cells are allowed to grow inside a semisolid culture media for 3-4 weeks before sizable colonies appear (> 40 cells/colony). This method is quite cumbersome, time-consuming, and difficult when testing a large number of samples. Additionally, the manual counting of colonies is highly subjective; with varying colony sizes, it's difficult to determine meaningful results. StemTag 96-Well Stem Cell Colony Formation Assay does not involve subjective manual counting of colonies or require a 3-4 week incubation period. Instead cells are incubated only 6-8 days in a proprietary semisolid agar media before being solubilized, lysed and detected by the patented CyQuant GR Dye in a fluorescence plate reader or assayed for alkaline phosphatase activity colorimetrically (Figure 1). Alternatively, viable colony-forming cells (CFCs) can be easily recovered for further culturing and testing. This format provides a quantitative, high-throughput method to accurately measure colony formation, while the short incubation time makes it possible to assay transiently transfected cells. The StemTag 96-Well Stem Cell Colony Formation Assay provides a stringent, anchorage-independent model for measuring stem cell colony formation, and allows for cell recovery. Each kit provides sufficient quantities to perform 96 tests in a microtiter plate. The assay may be modified for use in other plate formats (see Table 1 under Assay Protocol).

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Small volumes of StemTAG Stem Cell Colony Formation Assay (Cell Recovery Compatible) assay kit vial(s) may occasionally become entrapped in the seal of the product vial during shipment and storage. If necessary, briefly centrifuge the vial on a tabletop centrifuge to dislodge any liquid in the container`s cap. Certain products may require to ship with dry ice and additional dry ice fee may apply.

MBS168338 is an assay kit targeting StemTAG Stem Cell Colony Formation Assay (Cell Recovery Compatible).