A culture medium is provided for establishing expanded potential stem cell (EPSC) lines for mammals. Methods are provided using the medium for the in vitro conversion and maintenance of cells, including pluripotent cells into EPSCs.

The current invention concerns liver progenitor or stem cells, lysates thereof, and/or conditioned medium obtainable by culturing liver progenitor or stem cells in said medium for use in the treatment of diseases and/or conditions caused by increased vascular permeability or for use in restoring the vascular integrity of cells and tissues in a subject following inflammation and/or infection in said subject. More particularly, the present invention relates to liver progenitor or stem cells or conditioned medium obtainable by culturing liver progenitor or stem cells in said medium for therapeutic use in sepsis and sepsis-induced diseases, such as myocardial edema, acute kidney injury and lung sepsis.

The present invention is to provide a method for producing a cartilage tissue which comprises a step of providing a substrate for producing cell aggregates provided with a plurality of spots comprising a copolymer containing recurring units derived from monomers represented by the following formulae (I) and (II):

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[wherein U.sup.a1, U.sup.a, R.sup.a1, R.sup.a2 and R.sup.b are as described in the specification and claims] on a substrate having an ability to suppress adhesion of cells; a step of seeding human cartilage progenitor cells which are positive for PRRX1 protein and derived from pluripotent stem cells on the substrate; a step of producing cell aggregates by culturing the cells; and a step of culturing the aggregates to produce a cartilage tissue.

The invention relates to a method of producing CD34.sup.+CD41.sup.dim megakaryocyte (MK) progenitor cells, and a substantially pure cell population of megakaryocyte precursor cells obtained by said method and compositions thereof. The invention also relates to a method of producing proplatelet-bearing MKs and/or platelets using the CD34.sup.+CD41.sup.dim cells.

Provided herein are methods of treatment of individuals having an immune-related disease, disorder or condition, for example, inflammatory bowel disease, graft-versus-host disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, lupus erythematosus, diabetes, mycosis fungoides (Alibert-Bazin syndrome), or scleroderma using placental stem cells or umbilical cord stem cells.

The present disclosure relates to improved supplements, culture media and methods for enhancing the survival or proliferation of mammalian stem cells. In particular, adding a lipid supplement, such as a lipid-enriched carrier (e.g. a lipid-enriched albumin), to the culture medium may enhance the survival and/or proliferation of the stem cells by at least 5% to 65% as compared to a culture medium that does not contain the lipid supplement.

Described herein are methods and compositions for modifying a mammalian cell plasma membrane to retain secreted antibodies, capturing antibodies produced by the cells and sorting antibody producing cells according to antibody specificities or antibody quantities. These methods and compositions may be particularly useful for biological and medical applications. The methods may include modifying cell membranes from a population of antibody producing cells by inserting a membrane anchor into the cell membranes, a generic antibody capture molecule attached to the cell anchor, capturing antibodies produced by the cell, and detecting and dispending cells according to antibody specificities or antibody quantities with a microparticle sorting and dispensing apparatus.

Described herein are cells, cell culture methods, and cell culture media compositions useful for producing and maintaining iPSC-derided cell lines that are of higher purity and maintain cell type integrity better than current iPSC-derived cell lines. Also disclosed are methods of using the described cells and media, such as therapeutic methods of use for the described cells. The described cells include iPSC-derived mesodermal precursor cells (MPC), which itself may differentiate into at least four different cell types. When cultured under appropriate conditions, the mesodermal precursor cells can be used to produce hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), smooth muscle cells (SMC), or unlimited functional endothelial cells (UFEC). One characteristic that makes the described cells desirable is that they can be maintained in culture for a number of days, or passages, without changing phenotype through differentiation.

A new cell line and an antibody for determining the activity of botulinum toxin are disclosed. Also disclosed is a method of determining the activity of botulinum toxin using the cell line and/or the antibody.

A new cell line and an antibody for determining the activity of botulinum toxin are disclosed. Also disclosed is a method of determining the activity of botulinum toxin using the cell line and/or the antibody.