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MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium

Animal component-free medium for human mesenchymal stem cells

MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium

Animal component-free medium for human mesenchymal stem cells

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Animal component-free medium for human mesenchymal stem cells
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Product Advantages

  • Animal component-free formulation improves experimental reproducibility.
  • Superior cell expansion compared to serum-containing media.
  • Cultured MSCs retain robust expansion and tri-lineage differentiation capacities at early and late passages.
  • Supports MSC derivation directly from primary human tissue.

What's Included

  • MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium, 500 mL
  • MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus 500X Supplement, 1 mL
Products for Your Protocol
To see all required products for your protocol, please consult the Protocols and Documentation.

Overview

Achieve consistent, serum-free expansion of human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) with MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium. This animal component-free (ACF) and extracellular vesicle (EV)-free formulation supports robust MSC proliferation from a variety of tissue sources, including bone marrow and adipose tissue, while preserving MSC phenotype and trilineage differentiation potential.

Compared with serum-containing or EV-depleted media, MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus delivers efficient MSC expansion and eliminates variability associated with serum-derived components and exogenous EVs. The clean, EV-free background also enables downstream EV studies without the need to switch media. For guidance on generating EVs using this system, refer to our in-depth EV generation protocol, and pair with EasySepâ„¢ Human Extracellular Vesicle Positive Selection Kits for efficient and standardized EV recovery.

MesenCult™-ACF Plus Medium Kit is specifically designed for deriving, expanding, and cryopreserving MSCs, as well as differentiating human pluripotent stem cells into mesenchymal progenitors—that is optimized for efficient and consistent MSC cultures.

For animal component-free and optimized cryopreservation, MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Freezing Medium is recommended for human MSCs previously cultured in MesenCultâ„¢ media, including MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus. For a complete list of related products, including available differentiation media, explore our MSC area of interest page or contact us at techsupport@stemcell.com.

NOTE: Complete MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium must be supplemented with L-Glutamine. It is also intended to be used in conjunction with Animal Component-Free Cell Attachment Substrate, which is available as part of the MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Culture Kit.

is the manufacturer of the rhCollagen component of the cell attachment substrate.
Subtype
Specialized Media
Cell Type
Mesenchymal Cells, PSC-Derived, Mesenchymal Stem and Progenitor Cells
Species
Human
Application
Cell Culture, Expansion, Maintenance
Brand
MesenCult
Area of Interest
Drug Discovery and Toxicity Testing, Extracellular Vesicle Research, Stem Cell Biology
Formulation Category
Animal Component-Free, Serum-Free

Data Figures

Figure 1. CFU-F Assay of Human BM-Derived MSCs Expanded in MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium and Commercial Media.
(A) An average of 45 CFU-Fs per million cells were observed when BM mononuclear cells were seeded in MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus (n = 4). An average of 47 and 25 CFU-Fs per million cells were observed when cells were seeded in Commercial Medium 1 (n = 3) and Medium 2 (n = 4), respectively. Vertical lines indicate Standard Error of Mean (SEM). Representative image of CFU-F colonies expanded in (B) MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium (9 days of culture), (C) Commercial Medium 1 (10 days of culture) and (D) Commercial Medium 2 (10 days of culture). Commercial Medium 1 and Medium 2 were supplemented with 2.5% human AB serum to derive MSCs from BM, as per their protocols for derivation. No addition of serum is required when using MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium.

Figure 2. Human BM-Derived MSCs Cultured in MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium Expand Faster than MSCs Cultured in Commercial Xeno-Free and Serum-Free Media.
(A) A greater number of BM-derived MSCs were generated per passage using MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium (n=4) compared to Commercial Medium 1 (n=3) and Commercial Medium 2 (n=2). (B) Rates of BM-derived MSC expansion were compared between MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium, Commercial Medium 1, and Commercial Medium 2. The time required to double the number of MSCs using MesenCultâ„¢ -ACF Plus Medium (n=4) was shorter than when MSCs were cultured in Commercial Medium 1 (n=3) and Commercial Medium 2 (n=4). Vertical lines indicate Standard Error of Mean (SEM).

Figure 3. Human BM-Derived MSCs Expanded in MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium Display Multi-Lineage Differentiation Potential.
(A) Human BM-derived MSCs expanded in MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium differentiated into (B) adipocytes (Oil Red O staining; passage 5), (C) chondrocytes (Alcian Blue staining; passage 4) and (D) osteoblasts (Alizarin Red S staining; passage 5).

Figure 4. Flow Cytometric Analysis of MSCs Cultured in MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium.
BM-derived MSCs were cultured and expanded in MesenCultâ„¢-ACF Plus Medium. At passage 8 MSCs were stained for mesenchymal surface markers (CD73, CD90, CD105,), pericyte marker (CD146) and hematopoietic marker (CD45). MSCs expressed high levels of CD73, CD90, CD105 and CD146 and lacked expression of CD45.

Protocols and Documentation

Find supporting information and directions for use in the Product Information Sheet or explore additional protocols below.

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05445
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English
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05445
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English
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05445
Lot #
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English
Document Type
Product Name
Catalog #
05445
Lot #
All
Language
English

Applications

This product is designed for use in the following research area(s) as part of the highlighted workflow stage(s). Explore these workflows to learn more about the other products we offer to support each research area.

Resources and Publications

Publications (16)

Proinflammatory Cytokine Preconditioning Enhances the Therapeutic Potency of Different Types of MSCs in Inflammation L. Liu et al. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2026 May

Abstract

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have shown immunomodulatory effects and great promise in many inflammatory diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). However, several barriers to translation remain such as cell availability and potency. This study evaluates the therapeutic potentials of three types of MSCs, bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSC), the human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived MSC wild type (iMSC WT) and β2 microglobulin-knockout iMSCs (iMSC B2M KO) with or without proinflammatory cytokine preconditioning. BM-MSC, iMSC WT and iMSC B2M KO were preconditioned with a proinflammatory cytokine cocktail (Cytomix: IL-1β, IFN-γ and TNF-α). Immunoregulatory biomarkers were analysed by flow cytometry and cytokines released by ELISA. MSC antimicrobial properties were analysed via CFU assays while the MSCs’ immunomodulatory effects were evaluated using macrophage activation and T cell proliferation assays. Proinflammatory cytokine preconditioning enhanced the therapeutic potency of all three types of MSCs by increasing immunomodulatory marker expression, enhancing the antimicrobial effects and improving MSC-mediated inhibition of T cell proliferation. These findings provided new insights into the therapeutic potencies of MSCs in inflammation. Further studies are required for in vitro characterisation of the MSCs and in vivo efficacy verification of these MSCs prior to their clinical application.
A microfluidic bone marrow chip for the safety profiling of biologics in pre-clinical drug development L. Koenig et al. Communications Biology 2025 May

Abstract

Hematologic adverse events are common dose-limiting toxicities in drug development. Classical animal models for preclinical safety assessment of immunotherapies are often limited due to insufficient cross-reactivity with non-human homologous proteins, immune system differences, and ethical considerations. Therefore, we evaluate a human bone marrow (BM) microphysiological system (MPS) for its ability to predict expected hematopoietic liabilities of immunotherapeutics. The BM-MPS consists of a closed microfluidic circuit containing a ceramic scaffold covered with human mesenchymal stromal cells and populated with human BM-derived CD34+ cells in chemically defined growth factor-enriched media. The model supports on-chip differentiation of erythroid, myeloid and NK cells from CD34+ cells over 31 days. The hematopoietic lineage balance and output is responsive to pro-inflammatory factors and cytokines. Treatment with a transferrin receptor-targeting IgG1 antibody results in inhibition of on-chip erythropoiesis. The immunocompetence of the chip is established by the addition of peripheral blood T cells in a fully autologous setup. Treatment with T cell bispecific antibodies induces T cell activation and target cell killing consistent with expected on-target off-tumor toxicities. In conclusion, this study provides a proof-of-concept that this BM-MPS is applicable for in vitro hematopoietic safety profiling of immunotherapeutics. Subject terms: Biologics, Haematopoiesis, Lab-on-a-chip, Drug safety
Optimizing mesenchymal stem cell therapy: from isolation to GMP-compliant expansion for clinical application M. E. Williams et al. BMC Molecular and Cell Biology 2025 May

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising for cell-based therapies targeting a wide range of diseases. However, challenges in translating MSC-based therapies to clinical applications necessitate standardized protocols following Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) guidelines. This study aimed at developing GMP-complained protocols for FPMSCs isolation and manipulation, necessary for translational research, by (1) optimize culture of MSCs derived from an infrapatellar fat pad (FPMSC) condition through animal-free media comparison and (2) establish feasibility of MSC isolation, manufacturing and storage under GMP-compliance (GMP-FPMSC). FPMSCs from three different patients were isolated following established protocols and the efficacy of two animal component-free media formulations in the culturing media were evaluated. The impact of different media formulations on cell proliferation, purity, and potency of MSCs was evaluated through doubling time, colony forming unit assay, and percentage of MSCs, respectively. Furthermore, the isolation and expansion of GMP-FPMSCs from four additional donors were optimized and characterized at each stage according to GMP requirements. Viability and sterility were checked using Trypan Blue and Bact/Alert, respectively, while purity and identity were confirmed using Endotoxin, Mycoplasma assays, and Flow Cytometry. The study also included stability assessments post-thaw and viability assessment to determine the shelf-life of the final GMP-FPMSC product. Statistical analyses were conducted using one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s Multiple Comparisons. The study demonstrated that FPMSCs exhibited enhanced proliferation rates when cultured in MSC-Brew GMP Medium compared to standard MSC media. Cells cultured in this media showed lower doubling times across passages, indicating increased proliferation. Additionally, higher colony formation in FPMSCs cultured in MSC-Brew GMP Medium were observed, supporting enhanced potency. Data from our GMP validation, including cells from 4 different donors, showed post-thaw GMP-FPMSC maintained stem cell marker expression and all the specifications required for product release, including > 95% viability (> 70% is required) and sterility, even after extended storage (up to 180 days), demonstrating the reproducibility and potential of GMP-FPMSCs for clinical use as well as the robustness of the isolation and storage protocols. The study underscores the feasibility of FPMSCs for clinical uses under GMP conditions and emphasizes the importance of optimized culture protocols to improve cell proliferation and potency in MSC-based therapies. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12860-025-00539-7.