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What is CEPT Cocktail ?

CEPT small molecules as cell culture reagents

A long-standing challenge to the successful use of stem cells for both basic research and therapeutic applications is the sensitivity of cells to stress, leading to extensive cell death. CEPT Cocktail is a poly-pharmacological strategy that uses a combination of small molecules to significantly improve survival of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) at all stages of the stem cell workflow. The combination has been shown to be effective in cryopreservation, routine long-term passaging, single-cell cloning, gene editing, and differentiation, as well as embryoid body and organoid formation. CEPT Cocktail provides improved cytoprotection in the stem cell workflow compared with currently available reagents, by reducing cellular stress and DNA damage during passaging, and promoting cell adhesion. CEPT Cocktail therefore has broad potential for improving the manufacture of cells for disease modeling, drug screening, regenerative medicine, and cell therapy.

 

CEPT Cocktail Products

Product Name Catalog # Product Action
CEPT Cocktail Kit 7991 Easy-to-use kit for the preparation of 5 L of CEPT Cocktail media
Chroman 1 7163 Highly potent and selective ROCK 2 inhibitor; improves cell survival after cryogenesis
Emricasan 7310 Potent pan-caspase inhibitor; promotes survival of hPSCs in combination with other small molecules
Polyamine Supplement x1000 7739 Media supplement to boost cell growth; comprises a lyophilized mixture of Putrescine, Spermine and Spermidine
Trans-ISRIB 5284 Integrated stress response (ISR) inhibitor; supports protein synthesis and cell attachment during cell passaging

Single-cell cloning of hPSCs with CEPT and Namocell

Single-cell cloning workflow for hPSCs with the CEPT cocktail and Namocell microfluidic cell dispensing

Single-cell dissociation and the establishment of clonal cell lines for basic and translational research have been major challenges when working with human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). The schematic above highlights the use of CEPT cocktail in conjunction with the microfluidics-based cell sorting instrument Hana (from Namocell, a Bio-Techne brand), for scalable single-cell cloning of hPSCs and generation of clonal cell lines. CEPT maintains pluripotency and improves single-cell cloning efficiency, and Hana uses fully automated gentle (<2 psi) cell dispensing to minimize cell damage and mechanical stress. This combination provides superior results overall compared with FACS and other culture reagents.

Related Products for Stem Cell Culture

Glass bottle containing DMSO, cell cryopreserve grade with Tocris Bioscience label

DMSO, Cell Cryopreserve Grade (# 7726)

Our DMSO, Cell Cryopreserve Grade is a cryoprotective agent that can be used to protect cells from dehydration and shrinking during freezing and prevents the formation of ice crystals.

Fluorescence image of a human induced human induced pluripotent stem cell in ExCellerate iPSC Expansion Medium.

ExCellerate™ iPSC Expansion Medium

  • Animal component-free
  • Complete formulation – no growth factor supplementation required
  • Stable cell integrity over long term culture
Namocell Pala instrument

Fast, Gentle & Easy Single Cell Isolation

Hana and Pala, Namocell’s single cell sorting instruments, make single cell sorting fast and easy. These benchtop instruments combine microfluidics, flow cytometry and direct liquid dispensing to accomplish gentle cell sorting and dispensing in one simple step.

Stem Cell Resources

Background Information