Growing stem cells faster on seaweed

Alginate forms a kind of supporting skeleton in the cell walls of certain kinds of algae. Fraunhofer scientists use the gel-like mass from Chilean seaweed as the substrate for stem cells.

They can flexibly adjust the pore size and elasticity of the alginate, and it transports active ingredients and has better optical characteristics than plastic materials.

For the drug tests of the future, the pharma industry needs large quantities of pluripotent stem cells. These stem cells have the potential to transform themselves into any kind of somatic cell, such as the cells of inner organs. Using these stem cells, doctors and pharmaceutical companies can test new drugs better and more quickly than before.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT in Sulzbach have identified seaweed from Chile as a particularly efficient source of nutrients for the expansion of pluripotent stem cells. Over the past few years, they have developed a controlled and documented production process for alginate, the seaweed's supporting structure. The process encompasses everything from harvesting the seaweed on Chilean beaches and in the seas off Chile, to importing the granulated and dried seaweed, to manufacturing the alginate and using it in cell culture to grow pluripotent stem cells at the institute in Saarland.

Two seaweed species that grow on the coast of Chile form the source material: Lessonia trabeculata and Lessonia nigrescens. Supporting structures in the cell walls of the seaweed are made of alginate, which is particularly suitable for stem cell cultivation: it consists of a highly aqueous gel that is more viscous than honey.