Strategies for iPSC expansion

Establishment of expansion systems that are synthetic, defined, and stable will help accelerate the translation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). This chapter describes strategies to eliminate feeder cell layer systems for PSC expansion based on studies in cell–extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions and recent developments in PSC technologies. We survey the literature describing laminin (both laminin-511 and laminin-521) as a feeder-free culture substrate for hPSC expansion. We describe our group’s findings that the use of laminin for bioreactor-based large-scale expansion of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is user-friendly, reproducible, and can be scaled-up. Toward the development of a tunable, xeno-free, coating solution that preserves pluripotency, we posit that laminin-based strategies for large-scale expansion of hPSCs will be critical for the optimization of basic research applications and ultimately for the realization of the therapeutic promise of these cells.