Q. What is FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific’s definition of animal component-free (ACF)?
A. FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific ACF products are manufactured with raw materials that do not contain any animal or human derived products to the tertiary level and are manufactured using equipment that does not come in contact with any animal or human products. The raw material handling, storage and final products manufacture and packaging are in dedicated human and animal component free facility and equipment.
Q. Is PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM serum-free, animal-component-free?
A. Yes, PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM is serum-free, which do not contain or require the addition of serum. However, it is not animal-component-free (ACF).
Q. Is the PRIME-XV MSC Expansion XSFM truly Xeno-free and not just animal-component-free?
A. Yes, PRIME-XV MSC Expansion XSFM is Xeno-free, it only contains human components. The definition of Xeno-free is that all components in the media are derived from the same species. PRIME-XV MSC Expansion XSFM contains no animal-derived component but may potentially contain human-derived components.
Q. Do the PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM and XSFM contain a stable form of L-Glutamine?
A. Yes, our current PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM and XSFM contain a stable form for this amino acid.
Q. Can I use the PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM to culture cells without a coating substrate?
A. It is highly recommended to use MSC expansion medium with a coating substrate. In house experiments demonstrated higher success rate with fibronectin or MatrIS F. Unlike serum-containing MSC culture medium, serum-free culture condition for human MSCs requires fibronectin (such as PRIME-XV Human Fibronectin) or our proprietary matrix protein (PRIME-XV MatrIS F).
Q. Is attachment substrate mandatory for MSCs grown in PRIME-XV MSC Expansion XSFM?
A. PRIME-XV MSC Expansion XSFM can be used without coating substrate but suboptimal performance may be found when compared to culture with coating.
Q. What are the advantages of PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM/XSFM?
A. PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM/XSFM was found to outperform leading competitors’ during in house experiments, while maintaining MSC gross morphology, cell surface expression markers, multipotency potential and immune modulation abilities. Additionally, PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM/XSFM have been tested to support cell expansion of different sources of MSCs, including bone marrow-derived and adipose-derived MSCs. PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM/XSFM are ready-to-use with no additional growth supplements required and is supplied in a convenient one 250mL complete component.
Q. Is it normal to see precipitation in the PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM and XSFM?
A. As an enriched media the presence of precipitates may occur over time. The presence of precipitates has not been shown to cause any detrimental effect on product performance. If desired, the media can be aliquoted into sterile tubes and centrifuged for 5 minutes at 300 g before use.
Q. If un-opened PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM or XSFM was left in water bath by accident over 2 days, can it still be used?
A. We do not recommend the use of the media since it contains growth factors and inappropriate storage may impact the media performance.
Q. How often are MSCs passaged when cultured in PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM or XSFM?
A. Time between each passage depends on the media performance and initial seeding density. However, on average, human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) cultured in PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM or XSFM are passaged every 3-4 days if seeded at 6,000 cell/cm2. Cells should be passaged when they reach 80% confluency.
Q. Is it normal to see the cells come off in sheets and a lot of agitation is required when confluent plates/flasks are trysinized?
A. In our experience, very confluent cells can detach in sheets. For MSCs in particular, we do not recommend letting the cells go above 80%. Dissociation into single cells from very confluent cells may require longer incubation period with the dissociating agent. If the plates are coated with fibronectin (or MatrIS F), it might need more than 5 minutes to detach the cells.
Q. Is cell adaptation needed if cells were stored in serum-containing or competitors’ media?
A. There is no adaptation step needed for culture in PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM or XSFM.
Q. Does PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM or XSFM contain any antibiotics, or can antibiotics be added if desired?
A. No, there is no antibiotic in PRIME-XV MSC Expansion SFM or XSFM. Customer can add antibiotic if desired.
Q. Has PRIME-XV MSC Expansion XSFM been used in expansion on microcarriers?
A. PRIME-XV MSC Expansion XSFM has been evaluated/proven for scale up productions using Corning/Hyperflask-CellBIND, data. Protocol and data are available upon request.
Q. What is the difference between PRIME-XV MatrIS F / PRIME-XV Human Fibronectin?
A. PRIME-XV MatrIS F is a defined proprietary recombinant human protein matrix and PRIME-XV Human Fibronectin is derived from human plasma. Both PRIME-XV MatrIS F and PRIME-XV Human Fibronectin are designed for consistent culture of human primary cells, including stem/progenitor cells.
Q. Is PRIME-XV Human Fibronectin developed for MSC only?
A. PRIME-XV Human Fibronectin can be used as a coating cell culture substrate to support optimal attachment and growth of human primary cells, including stem/ progenitor cells. The recommended concentration for this application is typically 1-5 µg/cm2. It can also be added in the media to support cell spreading at a concentration of 0.5-50 µg/mL.
Q. What is FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific's policy for disclosing formulation information?
A. Different levels of details can be shared depending on the components and FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific will work with our customers to address their formulation inquiries on a case by case base. Please send us an email irvinescihelp@fujifilm.com with your formulation requests.