STEMdiff Motor Neuron Diff Kit

From STEMCELL Technologies, the STEMdiff™ Motor Neuron Differentiation Kit is a serum-free differentiation system used to generate motor neuron precursors from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including ES and iPS cells, in 14 days. The kit is part of the broader STEMdiff™ Motor Neuron Culture System and is intended for motor neuron disease modeling, assay development, and co-culture of hPSC-derived motor neurons with muscle cells. Following the 14-day differentiation, the resulting motor neuron precursors can be matured for an additional 14 or more days using the companion STEMdiff™ Motor Neuron Maturation Kit, generating > 40% mature motor neurons.

The differentiation protocol uses AggreWell™400 plates (an optional Ultra-Low Adherent Plate format is also available), with motor neuron progenitors developing within embryoid bodies from days 0–9 and post-mitotic motor neurons arising by Day 14. The kit comprises STEMdiff™ Motor Neuron Differentiation Basal Medium and Supplements A, B, and C, all stored at -20°C and stable for 2 years from the date of manufacture. According to the manufacturer, the kit yields OLIG2+ motor neuron progenitors at 83.20% ± 2.890% (mean ± SEM) by Day 9, and by Day 14 produces βIII-TUB+ (92.59% ± 1.079%), ISL1+ (55.99% ± 3.723%), and HB9+ (65.17% ± 3.514%) motor neurons; after the subsequent maturation step, the cultures express ChAT+ (65.16% ± 3.737%), HB9+ (79.58% ± 2.570%), and βIII-TUB+ (86.56% ± 2.331%) markers. The kit contains material derived from human plasma, with donors tested and found negative for HIV-1, HIV-2, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C; it should nonetheless be treated as potentially infectious.

A California Proposition 65 warning indicates that this product can expose users to Nickel Compounds, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.