Stem Cell Core

Services

Use of the STEM Core Facility:

This multiuser-shared research facility is available to all Salk researchers, and their direct collaborators, performing human stem cell work. All users benefit from the fully equipped and quality tested materials and equipment made available; users new to pluripotent cell culture will benefit from the hands on training provided by STEM Core personnel.

Access:

The Stem Cell Core Facility is available to researchers 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Access to the facility must be arranged in advance and approved by the STEM Core.

Conditions of Use:

1) The Core Director must first approve all new cell lines that will be brought into the facility, including both live and frozen cell cultures, from both commercial and academic sources. All new, approved cell lines will be cultured under quarantine conditions until they have tested clean for mycoplasma in 2 consecutive tests.

2) All new STEM Core users must be approved by, and go through a brief orientation with the Core Director, or Lab Manager.

3) Do not bring previously opened reagents, supplies or materials from other labs into the facility. In some instances this may be necessary, but must first be cleared with the Core Director. Unopened, direct from supplier, cell culture media and materials may be brought into the facility.

ESCRO approvals, ethics training, and MTAs:

Any research involving human pluripotent stem cells at the Salk Institute will require
:
(1) an ESCRO approved protocol
and
(2) ethics training for the researchers and PI involved with the experiments.

Please consult the ESCRO Website for information on fulfilling these requirements. The requirements for approval will vary depending on the research project. The Core Director and staff can assist new researchers with the process of filling ESCRO protocols. For training purposes, new investigators can begin working under the existing stem cell culture techniques training protocol. However, as the investigator(s) develop their own research project, separate ESCRO approval must be obtained.

Information on ethics training can be found online here»

Salk researchers working in the STEM Core are covered under the existing MTAs for the cell lines provided. Should an investigator want to culture one of the cell lines below in their own lab, a separate MTA would need to be executed.

Cell Lines Available

All cell lines are karyotypically stable, pathogen free, and cultured without antibiotics. Additional cell lines available upon request.

Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Available:

Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines Available:

Disease Specific iPSCs: Are you looking for a specific disease-linked iPSC line? It might already exist and we might be able to help you find it.

Other cell types available:
Keratinocytes-Adult
Keratinocytes-Neo Natal
BJ Fibroblasts
IMR90s
OP9s
293Ts
HFFs
MEFs
HUVEC

MTA Considerations

Salk researchers working in the STEM Core are covered under the existing MTAs for the cell lines provided. Should an investigator want to culture one of these cell lines in their own lab, a separate MTA would need to be executed.