Stem cells offer great potential for cell-based therapies and developmental biology research. However, to ensure the success of any experiment, stem cells must first be thoroughly characterized. The FlowCellect Stem Cell Characterization Kits help you do this by analyzing stem cell phenotypes and tracking the process of differentiation down various lineages. Optimized for use on the Guava® EasyCyte™ Systems, these kits are sensitive and easy to use.
How it Works FlowCellect stem cell kits use three parameters for accurate identification. You can “triangulate” cellular phenotypes with two complementary positive markers and one negative marker. The negative antibody also serves as a stage- and species-specific or lineage-specific marker for differentiated cells. Validated Antibodies We carefully screen all antibodies for high specificity in both Western blots and immunocytochemistry before using them in the FlowCellect kits. Antibody concentrations are then optimized for flow cytometry to give the greatest shift when negative and positive cells are compared. Human embryonic stem cell lysate Mouse embryonic stem cells and fibroblasts labeled with Oct-4 (green), SSEA-1 (red), and Hoechst nuclear stain (blue). Charaterization of Embroyonic Stem Cell Population A B C D E Oct-4 and SSEA-4 are both expressed on undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells. SSEA-1 is not expressed on human stell cells, but can be expressed upon treatment with retinoic acid. In this test, cells are labeled as expected: negative for SSEA-1 (A and B), positive for SSEA-4 (A and C), and positive for Oct-4 (B and C). Histogram overlays show that human stem cell markers Oct-4 (D) and SSEA-4 (E) are both expressed in H1 human embryonic stem cells (shaded histogram) but are not expressed in differentiated ENStem-A™ neural progenitor cells (unshaded histogram). Monitoring of Neural Stem Cell Differentiation into Specific Lineage A B C D Sox-2 and nestin are stem cell markers, while β-tubulin and GFAP are lineage markers. Before differentiation, neural stem cells are positive for nestin and Sox-2 (A), but these are down-regulated as differentiation begins (B). β-tubulin is up-regulated when cells are differentiated to neurons (C); likewise, GFAP is up-regulated when cells are differentiated to astrocytes (D
FCMEC25110 | FlowCellect Mouse ESC Nuclear Marker Characterization Kit |
FCHEC25102 | FlowCellect Human ESC Nuclear Marker Characterization Kit |
FCHEC25106 | FlowCellect Human ESC (TRA-1-60) Surface Marker Characterization Kit |
FCHEC25104 | FlowCellect Human ESC (HESCA-1) Surface Marker Characterization Kit |
FCRNC25112 | FlowCellect Rodent NSC Characterization Kit (Neural) |
FCRNC25114 | FlowCellect Rodent NSC Characterization Kit (Astrocyte) |