STEMdiff Sensory Neuron Diff Kit

From STEMCELL Technologies, this serum-free kit is part of the STEMdiff™ Sensory Neuron Culture System and is designed to differentiate human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived neural crest cells (NCCs) into sensory neuron precursors over 6 days. The workflow begins with NCCs produced using the STEMdiff™ Neural Crest Differentiation Kit, followed by maturation with the companion STEMdiff™ Sensory Neuron Maturation Kit, which uses BrainPhys™ Neuronal Medium as its basal medium to enable long-term neuronal culture beyond 30 days.

Cells generated with the system are characterized by expression of class III β-tubulin (TUJ1) and peripherin, with over 70% of cells positive for both markers between Day 12 and Day 14. Across multiple human ES and iPS cell lines maintained in mTeSR™1, TeSR™-E8™, or mTeSR™ Plus, BRN3A+ sensory neurons were generated at 25.3% ± 6.9% (mean ± SEM; n=7 cell lines, 3 - 23 replicates per condition) alongside TUJ1+ cells at 90.3% ± 4.1% (mean ± SEM; n=4 cell lines, 3 - 12 replicates per condition). The neurons respond to the sensory ligand capsaicin and exhibit lineage-specific upregulation of pain- and itch-related transcripts, including TRPV1, TRPV2, TRPM8, SCN9A, SCN10A, P2RX3, and GRP, supporting applications in drug discovery and pain research.