Contributor: Dr Mahfuz Chowdhury
In June 2023, International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) published the standards with the aim to improve the reproducibility of stem cell research within and between laboratories, and from cell line to cell line.
These standards set out the best practice recommendations for:
basic characterisation to describe cell identity, ensure culture integrity, and promote material safety
the assessment of the undifferentiated state and pluripotency to appropriately evaluate cells and their developmental potential
genomic characterisation to assess genetic integrity and monitor the emergence of cellular changes that could interfere with the interpretation of results or manifest as potentially malignant traits
stem cell-based model systems to improve fidelity and utility of stem cell-derived model systems e.g., organoids, microphysiological systems.
One interesting recommendation is to use "undifferentiated state of stem cells was assessed" instead of "pluripotent state of stem cells was assessed" when using OCT4, NANOG, or other markers in the assessment. The logic for this recommendation is that these markers are not uniquely expressed in pluripotent stem cells.
For more on this and other standards, the full document is available here.
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