Background of FGF
- Fibroblast Growth Factors (FGF) play important roles in diverse biological functions in vivo and in vitro
- FGFs are involved in embryonic development, neuron differentiation, and the proliferation of cells of mesodermal origin and many cells of neuroectodermal, ectodermal, and endodermal origin
FGF is a required component of stem cell culture media for maintaining cells in an undifferentiated state. Because FGF is unstable, daily media changes are needed. Proteintech has developed a thermostable FGF basic (FGFbasic-TS) that supports a 2-day media change schedule, so no media changes are required over a weekend (Figure 1).
Why should you use thermostable FGF basic?
The stability of FGFbasic-TS and FGF basic (E. coli-derived) in xeno-free, chemically defined cell culture media at 37˚C. The protein concentration was determined by ELISA each day for 3 days. After one day of incubation at 37˚C, FGF basic was undetectable, while FGFbasic-TS was present at levels 60%, 35%, and 20% of its starting concentration at days 1, 2, and 3.
Benefits of FGF basic-TS
Proteintech FGFbasic-TS maintains cell growth, pluripotency, and differentiation potential with a 2-day feeding schedule.
- Broad applicability for stem cell culture - can be used for multipotent or oligopotent cell types before they differentiate into mature effector cell types. Also for mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), neuronal stem cells (NSCs), and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs).
- Thermostable - maintains cell cultures more efficiently and homogeneously.
- Cost-effective - requires less frequent media changes for cell culture.
- High biological activity - can retain its biological activity for over 2-3 days at 37°C.
References
- Stemple D, Mahanthappa N, Anderson D. Basic FGF induces neuronal differentiation, cell division, and NGF dependence in chromaffin cells: A sequence of events in sympathetic development. Neuron. 1988;1(6):517-525.
- Rydel R, Greene L. Acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors promote stable neurite outgrowth and neuronal differentiation in cultures of PC12 cells. The Journal of Neuroscience. 1987;7(11):3639-3653.
- Xu R, Peck R, Li D, Feng X, Ludwig T, Thomson J. Basic FGF and suppression of BMP signaling sustain undifferentiated proliferation of human ES cells. Nature Methods. 2005;2(3):185-190.
- Pera M. Stem cell culture, one step at a time. Nature Methods. 2005;2(3):164-165.