2015년 02월 Serum-free Media supplement from Silkworm gland for the expansion of mesenchymal stem cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are must be cultured in chemically defined, xeno-free culture system for cell-based therapies. One major overcome for their clinical use is the unsafety of fetal bovine serum (FBS), which is a crucial part of all media currently used for the culture of MSCs. Previously, we developed novel methods the production of silkworm gland hydrolysate (SGH). Also, we showed the effect of the SGH on the cell growth promotion. We demonstrated whether the characteristics of MSCs were maintained in the serum-free media containing SGH during long-term cultivation. The results of microscopic observation showed that the morphology of stem cells were not different between the media containing 10% FBS and 1 mg/mL SGH. After the long-term culture of MSCs in serum-free media containing SGH, the rate of MSCs growth was well maintained. The analysis of anti-apoptotic effect of SGH showed that early apoptosis of MSCs was reduced by 3.7-fold. Furthermore, MSCs specific surface markers and stemness gene expression (Nanog, Sox2) were preserved as that of MSCs in the media containing 10% FBS. In conclusion, we demonstrate that the SGH can be used as useful supplement for MSCs cultivation in serumfree media.