Authentication and banking of human pluripotent stem cells.

Pluripotent human stem cell lines from embryos or reprogrammed adult cells are not all alike. Cell lines differ widely in their propensity for differentiation, their chromosomal integrity and epigenetic state, immunological profiles, and their availability for research. It is important that all pluripotent cell lines be protected from loss by being properly banked and authenticated, which will also protect current experimental data by enabling its future reproducibility. This unit considers basic guidelines for banking and authentication of pluripotent stem cells that should be easily implementable within any laboratory. Cell Banking is the disciplined preservation of a cell stock in the originally obtained state, as well as stocks representing the baseline state for experimental efforts. Each of these stocks must be authenticated appropriately. Authentication of pluripotent lines verifies five properties: the unique identity of the line, its sterility or freedom from contaminating microorganisms and pathogens, the integrity and stability of its genome, its expression of typical markers of the stem cell phenotype, and its pluripotency upon differentiation. This unit lists and compares several assays to verify each of these stem cell line properties. Thanks to recent advances in molecular biology and the availability of state-of-the-art assays from service providers, the time and material costs of banking and authentication are not excessive for the typical research laboratory.