NeuroCult SM1 Without Vitamin A

This neural cell culture supplement is produced by STEMCELL Technologies for the serum-free expansion of neural stem and progenitor cells in vitro. The Vitamin A-depleted composition supports long-term maintenance of undifferentiated neural precursors, an advantage for proliferation assays, neurosphere generation workflows, and downstream differentiation studies where retinoic acid exposure must be controlled externally. Supplied as a 10 mL vial, the additive pairs with the NeuroCult NSC Basal Medium and Proliferation Supplement system, integrating with the broader NSC-compatible protocols published by STEMCELL Technologies. Researchers typically aliquot the working volume and store the bottle frozen at -20 degrees C, protected from light, with single-use aliquots thawed immediately before addition to culture medium to preserve cytokine activity. Documented applications include passaging of embryonic and adult mouse neural stem cells, generation of neurosphere cultures, and cryopreservation workflows. The absence of retinol and retinoic acid sets this formulation apart from the standard NeuroCult SM1, giving laboratories that need to manipulate the differentiation axis independently a defined, xeno-free alternative that does not introduce confounding retinoid signaling during routine feeding.