Video bioinformatics analysis of human pluripotent stem cell morphology, quality, and cellular dynamics.

StemCellQC is a video bioinformatics software tool for the quantitative analysis of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) colonies. Our objective was to use StemCellQC to evaluate and compare various experimental culture conditions, cell lines, and treatments and to demonstrate its applicability to PSC problems. Seven key features were identified that provided useful information on PSC morphology, dynamic behavior, and viability.

Distribution, quantification and toxicity of cinnamaldehyde in electronic cigarette refill fluids and aerosols.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the distribution, concentration and toxicity of cinnamaldehyde in electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) refill fluids and aerosols.

Methods: The distribution and concentration of cinnamaldehyde were determined in 39 e-cigarette refill fluids plus 6 duplicates using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS). A cinnamaldehyde toxicity profile was established for embryonic and adult cells using a live cell imaging assay, immunocytochemistry, the comet assay and a recovery assay.

Evaluating Cell Processes, Quality, and Biomarkers in Pluripotent Stem Cells Using Video Bioinformatics.

There is a foundational need for quality control tools in stem cell laboratories engaged in basic research, regenerative therapies, and toxicological studies. These tools require automated methods for evaluating cell processes and quality during in vitro passaging, expansion, maintenance, and differentiation. In this paper, an unbiased, automated high-content profiling toolkit, StemCellQC, is presented that non-invasively extracts information on cell quality and cellular processes from time-lapse phase-contrast videos.

Adaptation of stem cells to 96-well plate assays: use of human embryonic and mouse neural stem cells in the MTT assay.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) are difficult to adapt to 96-well plate assays, such as the MTT assay, because they survive best when plated as colonies, which are not easily counted and plated accurately. Two methods were developed to address this problem. In the first, ROCK inhibitor (ROCKi) was used, which allows accurate counting and plating of single hESC.