Protein biomarkers are routinely used to characterize stem cells by cell state, cell type and function. Methods such as immunostaining, Western Blot analysis and FACS have been used to enrich, localize and quantify singular proteins in pluripotent and differentiated cells. However, future needs in stem cell biology require greater throughput and sensitivity to enable global and target-specific analysis. An example of a new target-specific analysis approach is our new TaqMan® Protein Expression Assays.

• Mass Spectrometry is high throughput, sensitive method for global and targeted protein profiling, and is widely used for discovery and characterization of novel proteins, modifications and interactions. Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX are the leading providers of mass spectrometry systems.
  
  To learn more, visit our Protein Biomarker Solutions site.
  
  
• Western Blotting analysis a versatile method to assay for protein markers of pluripotency or differentiation pathways, and could be correlated with gene expression analysis and methylation profiling.
  
  

• Target-Specific Protein Assays can be utilized to monitor specific markers of pluripotency and differentiation. An example of this is TaqMan® Protein Expression Assays which are novel assays that help enable fast, easy identification, and relative protein quantification of pluripotency protein markers from limited quantities of cultured hESCs.
  
  
• Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) ) is critical tool for working with heterogenous sample populations. For example, FACS is often used upstream of microarray analysis or TaqMan Real-Time PCR to enrich sample populations based on the expression of cell surface antigens, such as CD34+. Once isolated, stem cell researchers can utilize the TaqMan® Cells-to-CT® Kits to rapidly characterize cultured stem cells by mRNA or microRNA profiling. Researchers working with neural, mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells are using mass spectrometry, such as the 4800 Plus MALDI TOF/TOF™ Analyzer, to identify novel cell surface antigens expressed in adult stem cells.
  

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