Biolaminin 511 LN

Human recombinant laminin 511, Biolaminin 511 LN (LN511), is the natural laminin for mouse embryonic stem cells with sustained pluripotency without the need to use feeder cells or differentiation inhibitors like LIF.

Laminin 511 is together with laminin 521 the most widely expressed laminins in the body. LN511 is especially recommended for cell culture of murine embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells while LN521 is recommended for human pluripotent stem cells.

The culture of mouse pluripotent stem cells on LN511, which is already expressed at the 4‑cell stage during embryonic development, maintains the pluripotency without the use of LIF. Using LN511 for adherent murine stem cell cultures makes culturing easy and efficient. 

 

Mouse ES and iPS cells grow on laminin 511 (LN511) in a completely defined matrix, without the need of using time-consuming and cumbersome feeder cells or LIF since the LN511 matrix creates a biological niche keeping the ES cells in a pluripotent state for months. BioLamina's LN511 is a full-length human recombinant laminin that is used as a mouse ESC or iPSC culture substrate. 

Stem cells grow as monolayers on LN511 enabling equal contact to both the matrix and cell culture medium, which leads to a more homogenous cell population. Since LN511 is a recombinant protein, lot-to-lot variation is minimal and therefore fewer replicates are needed for reliable results (Domogatskaya, 2008; Rodin, 2010). 

The need for matrices that support pluripotent stem cell renewal in a reproducible manner is clear. Stem cell biologists have long experienced problems with the repeatability of results and with the maintenance of pluripotency when working with ES cell cultures.

Additives like the cytokine LIF have thus been added to the cell culture medium to minimize spontaneous cell differentiation or one has needed to culture the cells on feeder cell layers.

Now, however, LN511 allows the proliferation of pluripotent mouse ES cells without such differentiation inhibitors or feeder cells. Importantly, the ES cells grow as a homogenous monolayer, which ensures equal availability to both substrate and soluble factors and, thus, creates a more homogenous cell population (Domogatskaya, 2008).

LN511 and other laminins can also be applied to glass, and as stem cells grow as a monolayer on LN511 and LN521 these laminins have been used for improved imaging of stem cells grown on glass slides.

The LN511 matrix provides better opportunities for designing experiments and interpreting obtained results.