RMI Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) Core Facility
OVERVIEW
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) can be used to model complex human diseases and hold the potential to treat brain, heart, eye, liver, and pancreas disorders, among others. These cells are derived from any adult cell in the body by modifying their genetic makeup and sending them “back in time” to an embryonic state.
Directed by Dhruv Sareen, PhD, the Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) Core Facility at the Regenerative Medicine Institute (RMI) uses the latest techniques to derive, expand, and characterize these cells from all types of adult human tissues collected by Cedars-Sinai clinicians and scientists and approved by the Medical Center’s Institutional Review Board. We are developing new ways to grow them into specific cells of the human body (brain, blood, bone, etc.) and then distribute them back to the research scientists at the RMI and throughout the Medical Center.
LABORATORY
The iPSC Core Facility houses a tissue culture suite with two clean rooms and five level II biosafety cabinets for cell culture. Our state-of-the-art equipment includes microscopes that allow for the viewing of live cultures and the manipulation of stem cells and other highly sophisticated instruments that perform such functions as extended real-time cell imaging, high throughput drug screening and genetic analysis.
SERVICES
The iPSC Core Facility generates iPS cells for scientists within the RMI and across campus as well as to outside investigators. We also train graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and technicians in stem cell biology techniques.
PROTOCOLS
Here you can find many of the common protocols used by the iPSC Core for stem cell culture.
- Freezing and thawing iPSCs on Matrigel
- Passing iPSCs using the StemPro EZ Passaging Tool
- Passaging iPSCs with Versene
- Preparing Matrigel and Matrigel Coated TC plates
If you have any questions regarding a protocol please feel free to e-mail the iPSC core at iPSCCore@cshs.org
Contact Information
Director: Dhruv Sareen, PhD
Lab Member: Loren Ornelas
Phone: 310-248-8556
E-mail: iPSCcore@cshs.org
