University of Sheffield

Nicholas John Warren

Steven Peter Armes

Giuseppe Battaglia

Irene Canton

Harry Moore

Denis Cecchin

The present invention relates to a medium for storing, preserving, culturing, and/or differentiating stem cells. The medium employs a synthetic thermo-responsive copolymer, dispersed in an aqueous vehicle, which allows the medium to be readily 'switched' between a non-gelatinous (fluid) form and a gelatinous form by simply adjusting temperature across the gelling temperature of the medium. As such, stem cells can be easily captured within a 3D gel matrix by simply mixing the stem cells with the non-gelatinous/fluid form of the medium and then gelling the medium by adjusting the temperature across the gelling temperature of the medium. The stem cells encapsulated within the gelatinous form of the medium may then be preserved for a significant time period before either using the stem cells directly within the medium (e.g. in therapy, or in culturing, differentiation, and such like), or after their extraction from the medium.

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Sheffield, United Kingdom

Nicholas John Warren