Abstract

Ex-Vivo Expansion Of Human Cardiac Biopsy-Derived Stem Cells In Physico-Chemically Defined Nutrient Media

Silvana Bardelli, Group Leader - Technology Transfer and Product Development, Swiss Institute for Regenerative Medicine

Physico-chemically defined media are fully synthetic nutrient mixtures, exclusively made of small molecules characterized by their CAS and EINECS numbers. Such media are made of non-animal derived ingredients only. The advantage of using physico-chemically defined media is the maximum control over cell metabolic functions, and the reduced variability in product synthesis and quality. The objective of the present study is to design a specific physico-chemically defined medium for the growth of human Cardiac Stem Cells (hCSCs) for therapeutic use by: 1. Selection of the basic culture medium; 2. Reduction of FBS content; 3. Identification of specific adhesion substrates; 4. Selection of specific growth factors. Unfractionated and enriched hCSCs were grown in selected physico-chemically defined media at 10% FBS. The sequential decrease of serum concentration was evaluated. In order to select adhesion substrates specific for our cells, the natural composition of the cardiac extracellular matrix was considered as a model system. To further optimize our cell therapy product in serum-free condition, specific GMP-grade growth factors were included in the study. These data support the hypothesis that hCSCs can be extensively grown in vitro in physico-chemically defined nutrient media at reduced serum concentration by preserving their safety profile for future therapeutic use.