An aspect of the present invention makes it possible to easily observe both surfaces of a cell sheet in a condition in which the cell sheet is at a stable position in a culture medium. A cell sheet production device (100) includes: a container (20); and a support unit (10) removably held in the container (20), the support unit (10) including a mesh sheet (2) and a base (3) which holds the mesh sheet (2) such that the mesh sheet (2) floats from a bottom surface of the container (20), the support unit (10) being held in the container (20) such that the support unit is at a fixed position in vertical and horizontal directions in a culture medium.

Disclosed herein is a method for cultivating primary human pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells (HPAEpiC), which includes cultivating the primary HPAEpiC in a first medium containing a basal medium, a culture supplement, and a Rho kinase inhibitor, and a second medium containing the basal medium and the culture supplement in sequence. The culture supplement includes Jagged-1 (JAG-1) peptide, human Noggin protein, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) type I receptor inhibitor SB431542, human fibroblast growth factor 7 (hFGF-7), hFGF-10, and glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) inhibitor CHIR99021. Also disclosed is a method for preparing a three-dimensional cell culture of alveolar epithelium using the first medium and the second medium.

The invention provides methods of preparing a sample of viable diseased cells obtained from a human subject for clinical testing, wherein the methods inhibit anoikis and/or anoikis in the cells while maintaining the physiological functions and genomic composition of the cells when they were in vivo. In the methods of the invention, primary cells are cultured in media comprising at least one anoikis inhibitor, preferably at least one inhibitor of an intrinsic anoikis pathway and at least one inhibitor of an extrinsic anoikis pathway, under anti-anoikis atmospheric conditions, such as greater than 2% and less than 20% oxygen. Method combining multiple culturing conditions, including surface attachment under conditions that inhibit anoikis, are also provided. Compositions and kits for use in the methods of the invention are also provided.

Methods for generating high-yield, high-purity epicardial cells are described. Wnt/β-catenin signaling is first activated in human cardiac progenitor cells, by, for example, inhibiting Gsk-3 to induce differentiation into epicardial cells. Methods for long-term in vitro maintenance of human cardiac progenitor cell-derived epicardial cells and method comprising chemically defined, xeno-free, and albumin-free culture conditions are also provided.

A structured artificial construct that allows corneal endothelium to be regenerated from isolated cells outside the human or animal body is provided. The structured artificial construct is formed from a dome-shaped base body with a honeycomb structure formed in a concave side of the base body. Methods for generating the structured artificial construct are also provided.

The invention relates to a method for detecting residual, undifferentiated pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) in a culture of cells differentiated from PSCs, the method comprising: culturing the cells on a substrate coated with laminin-521 and E-cadherin in a medium comprising a ROCK inhibitor; quantitating in the cultured cells expression of a marker of residual, undifferentiated PSCs; and comparing the marker expression in the cultured cells with the marker expression in a reference culture of cells comprising a known proportion of PSCs, wherein lower marker expression in the culture of cells than marker expression in the reference culture of cells indicates absence of residual, undifferentiated PSCs in the cultured cells or presence of residual, undifferentiated PSCs in the cultured cells at a proportion lower than the known proportion of PSCs in the reference culture of cells. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a therapeutic composition and a method for treating or preventing a condition in a subject.

Compositions, devices and methods are described for improving adhesion, attachment, and/or differentiation of cells in a microfluidic device or chip. In one embodiment, one or more ECM proteins are covalently coupled to the surface of a microchannel of a microfluidic device. The microfluidic devices can be stored or used immediately for culture and/or support of living cells such as mammalian cells, and/or for simulating a function of a tissue, e.g., a liver tissue, muscle tissue, etc. Extended adhesion and viability with sustained function over time is observed.

This invention relates to live cell constructs for producing milk in culture and compositions comprising a milk product produced by the live cell contracts, as well as methods for making a live cell construct for producing milk in culture, methods of producing milk in culture, and methods of producing a modified primary mammary epithelial cell or an immortalized mammary epithelial cell for use in a live cell construct and other methods of the present invention.

Methods for generating multipotent radial glia-like cells and astrocyte-like cells from human pluripotent stem cells are provided along with the related compositions.

The present invention provides a scaffold for culturing retinal tissue comprising an amount of gelatin, an amount of chondroitin sulfate, an amount of hyaluronic acid, wherein the amount of gelatin, chondroitin sulfate, and hyaluronic acid are prepared into a three-dimensional monolith, wherein the monolith is sectioned into planar sheets, and an amount of laminin-521.