To provide a microbial oil that contains eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) at a high concentration and can effectively exert the function of EPA. A microbial oil containing EPA and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), in which the content of EPA is 38% by area or greater relative to the total fatty acids and which has at least one fatty acid ratio selected from the group consisting of (a) to (c): (a) a ratio of the content of EPA to the content of DHA of 1.7 or more; (b) a ratio of the content of fatty acid(s) having 18 carbon atoms to the content of fatty acid(s) having 20 carbon atoms of 0.3 or less; and (c) a ratio of the content of fatty acid(s) having 18 carbon atoms to the content of fatty acid(s) having 22 carbon atoms of 1.5 or less.

A chemical culture system and use thereof. The chemical culture system comprises a basic culture medium and a small molecule compound, and forms a serum-free culture system having a clear chemical composition. The culture medium does not use substitute serum B27 and GS21 which contain animal-derived components and are widely used currently, but uses a pure chemical molecule activation signal pathway, and uses a non-animal-derived growth factor to replace an animal-derived growth factor, and thus the composition is clear, the potential risks caused by the existence of serum and animal-derived components are avoided, and the clinical prospect of nerve cell transplantation is expanded.

This disclosure generally concerns the fields of cell biology and molecular biology. In particular the invention concerns the field of stem cell biology and maturation of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. Disclosed is a method for improving the maturity of stem-cell derived cardiomyocytes, in particular of the ventricular type, as can be witnessed by, for example, an improved upstroke velocity of the stem-cell derived cardiomyocytes.

Human induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) are a powerful tool for studying cardiovascular disease and drug screening. However, most current methods of cell culture result in cells resembling fetal myocardium, which is potentially problematic as most forms of cardiovascular disease occur in the adult heart. Disclosed systems and methods include culturing cells in fatty-acid based medium and on patterned growth to produce hiPSC-CMs which mimic adult cardiomyocytes and display a similar hypertrophic response as is observed in cardiovascular disease.

The present invention relates to a chemically defined medium for eukaryotic cell culture, comprising water, at least one carbon source, one or more vitamins, one or more salts, one or more fatty acids, one or more buffer components, selenium, at least one substance of the group of Functional Inhibitors of Acid Sphingomyelinase (FIASMAs) and at least one polypeptide of the GF- superfamily with the ability to inhibit stem cell differentiation, its use in the culture of human pluripotent stem cells, a cell culture system comprising human pluripotent stem cells and the chemically defined medium, as well as a kit for proliferation and/or maintenance of human pluripotent stem cells.

An expression system and process for the production of Diphtheria toxin polypeptides or mutated forms thereof, such as the toxoid CRM197 polypeptide, in genetically-modified E. coli with high yield is described. The system and process is based on the uncoupling of biomass growth from recombinant protein induction, i.e. using an inducer of protein production that cannot be used as a carbon source for growth by the bacteria. The use of specific components and conditions that improve protein yields are also described.

A human limbal epithelial stem xenobiotic free cell culture system is provided. The cell culture system typically includes a cell culture media comprising isoproterenol, Human Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF), N2 supplement, hydrocortisone, and an antibiotic. This cell culture media can efficiently propagate undifferentiated LSCs in the absence xenobiotic cells. These systems provide an optimized way to culture LSCs for use in human transplantation (e.g. in patients suffering from limbal stem cell deficiency) by minimizing the risk of cross-contamination and/or reagent toxicity to transplant recipients.

Methods for generating human arterial endothelial cells under defined conditions in the absence of insulin are described.

The present invention relates to dry cell culture media comprising amino acid components of certain particle size. Some dry powder cell culture media show poor dissolving properties and result in turbid solutions when they are dissolved in aqueous solutions. Using amino acid components of certain particle sizes significantly reduces that problem.

Lanthanides are recycled with microbes comprising a lanthanide-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase and an evo-HLn Methylorubrum extorquens AM1 hybrid sensor histidine kinase/response regulator comprising a Leu151His substitution relative to the wild-type.