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• Objective & Approach
• Process development for mass production and differentiation of stem cells
• In vitro organization and growth of implantable liver and pancreas beta-cell tissues
• Development of advanced cell-based assays and their applications to efficacy/hazard evaluations
• Development of advanced biosensing devices using carbon nanofibers
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Process development for
mass production and differentiation of stem cells

[ Person in charge ]

Prof. Y.Sakai, Dr. M.M.Chowdhury,
Mr. I.Horiguchi (MS), Mr. Y.Tabata (MS based on an exchange program with EPFL, Switzerland)

[ Content ]

Based on the current literature, suspension culture is considered the most suitable method for mass propagation of stem cells while preserving their pluripotency and for the induction of lineage-specific differentiation. However, such stem cells tend to be weak against mechanical and chemical disturbances during the culture. Therefore, we have been trying to use hydrogel-based microencapsulation as an effective countermeasure to optimize cellular microenvironments and to allow accumulation of self-secreted growth factors while still remaining compatible to large-scale suspension culture.