Invitrogen licenses stem cell line

Invitrogen has licensed an engineered stem cell line from the Buck Institute for age research in the US.

Representatives for the life sciences technologies provider explained that the stem cell line is used in the study of neural cells in neurodegenerative disease.

Named BG01 Olig2-GFP, the line is engineered to track the Olig2 gene, a neural lineage marker which controls a protein maintaining a neural stem cell’s ability to replicate early in brain development and then directs it to form a particular type of neural cell.

"This line of stem cells adds to Invitrogen’s expanding portfolio of engineered stem cells," observed Joydeep Goswami, Invitrogen’s vice-president of primary and stem cell systems.

"We plan to not only provide the line to customers, but also to further develop products from the line that will serve as valuable tools in neural stem cell research," the firm’s representative added.

A spokesperson for the Buck Institute said the organisation is "excited" about the relationship with Invitrogen and expressed its intentions to advance the field of stem cell biology.

Following the agreement, the Buck Institute is to hold the first annual Stem Cell Symposium in California next week, where Invitrogen will provide a presentation on the propagation of human embryonic stem cells in serum-free, feeder-free and xeno-free conditions.