Biolaminin 521 CTG (CT521)
Human recombinant laminin 521
Biolaminin 521 CTG is a full-length, human, recombinant laminin 521 substrate, the only one of its kind on the market, providing an optimal environment for feeder-free culture of human PSCs, MSCs and most anchorage-dependent progenitor cell types. With this new clinical-grade product, scientists are supported throughout their cell therapy development process – from concept to commercialized therapy.

A cell culture substrate designed for clinical research
Culturing human cells is about growing human cells outside the human body and recreating the natural cell niche is key to successful cultivation. Whatever your stem cell vision is, you need the right tools to succeed in your research. High-quality products and proper documentation are essential for the successful transition of basic research to cell therapy.
The type of cell culture substrate used in your experiments will have a great impact on your research. Biolaminin 521 CTG (CT521-0501) is a full-length, human, recombinant laminin 521 substrate, the only one of its kind on the market, providing an optimal environment for feeder-free culture of hPSCs. The CT521 substrate only contains components of human origin and provides a defined surface for feeder-free culture of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). The substrate can also be used for mesenchymal stem cell culture and most anchorage-dependent progenitor cell types.

A biologically relevant culture environment
Laminin 521 is a key cell adhesion protein of the natural stem cell niche, expressed and secreted by hPSCs in the inner cell mass of the embryo. The Biolaminin 521 substrate recreates a biologically relevant hPSC milieu in vitro, promoting attachment, high survival, and robust long-term self-renewal of hPSCs. In addition, the more authentic culture environment primes the pluripotent stem cells for more efficient differentiation, enhanced cell maturation, polarization, and organization of specialized cell types.
The laminin 521 cell culture substrates have a positive effect on stabilizing and homogenizing pluripotent gene expression profiles between hES cell lines, providing a more controllable and robust culture system compared to the feeder- and many other feeder-free culture systems. Via the interaction with relevant cell surface receptors, laminins activate cell signaling cascades (e.g. PI3K/Akt pathway), giving consistent cellular responses and improved cell functionality, ultimately saving researchers both time and cost.
Laminin 521 represents one of the most common laminins in the human body, and together with the other laminin isoforms, it supports the efficient expansion and differentiation of many diverse tissue cell types.
Recommended applications
Whatever your research aim is, you need a culture substrate that guarantees the highest cell quality and yield. Read more about the related cell applications.
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Clinical applications and large-scale cell production
Biolaminin substrates for large-scale manufacturing and clinical use Scaling up high-quality cell production for clinical needs A scalable system for […]VIEW application -
Pluripotent stem cells
Biorelevant culture of human ES and iPS cells on Biolaminin substrates Biolaminin 521 successfully replicates the genuine human stem cell niche […]VIEW application -
3D culture
Biosilk and Biolaminin key advantages 3D cell culture and organoid formation 3D culture systems for disease modeling, drug screening, and […]VIEW application -
Clonal stem cell culture
Biorelevant clonal stem cell culture on Biolaminin substrates Biolaminin 521 successfully replicates the genuine human stem cell niche in vitro […]VIEW application -
iPSC reprogramming and expansion
Reprogramming and expansion of human iPS cells on Biolaminin substrates High-efficiency iPSC reprogramming and expansion on Biolaminin 521 Human recombinant Biolaminin […]VIEW application -
Neural cells
Biorelevant culture of neural cells on Biolaminin substrates Laminins are widely expressed in the nervous system and are essential for […]VIEW application -
Hepatocytes and hepatoblasts
Biorelevant culture of liver cells on Biolaminin substrates Several laminins play a vital role in liver progenitor cell-mediated regeneration The […]VIEW application -
Eye cells
Biorelevant culture of eye cells Laminin proteins are important components in the eye microenvironment Biolaminin products have been succesfully used […]VIEW application -
Endothelial cells
Biorelevant culture of endothelial cells Biolaminin isoforms for vascular endothelial cell culture Endothelial cells that make up the vascular network […]VIEW application
Key features
Biolaminin 521 CTG (Cell Therapy Grade) has been developed and manufactured to allow customers to qualify the material for use in the manufacturing of cells for clinical research. The USP Chapter 1043: “Ancillary materials for cell, gene, and tissue-engineered products” have been considered in the design of the product.
Biolaminin 521 CTG is manufactured in compliance with the ISO9001:2015 quality management system. Full traceability documentation, such as Certificate of Analysis and Animal Origin Free Statement, is provided with every lot to support regulatory filings.
Biolaminin 521 CTG is animal origin-free to the secondary level according to the ISCT guidance document ˮISCT Animal-Free Origin Survey Results-Summary”. All materials used in the production process have full traceability.
Biolaminin 521 CTG works well in any protocol using any commercially available medium. The substrate supports attachment and robust expansion of hPSCs seeded as single cells and small colonies, without the need for artificial apoptosis inhibitors. The cells grow in a homogeneous monolayer and are easy to monitor, with maintained pluripotency and genetic integrity.
Biolaminin 521 CTG provides a robust and forgiving culture environment and allows for operator-independent culture maintenance that is reliable, standardized, and easy to monitor and control.
Seamless transition from bench to clinic
With this new cell therapy grade product, scientists are supported throughout their cell therapy development process. Human PSCs cultured on the Biolaminin 521 research-grade substrate, Biolaminin 521 MX, can be seamlessly transferred to Biolaminin 521 CTG. hPSCs cultured on feeders or on other feeder-free substrates can also be transitioned to Biolaminin 521 substrates with minimal adaptation.
Improved culture system
The CT521 stem cell substrate enables a high expansion rate, monolayer homogenous growth, and maintained pluripotency. Cells are genetically stable without karyotypic abnormalities. hESC and iPSC grow faster on CT521 compared to cells cultured on feeders or on another feeder-free matrice, facilitating automation. Human pluripotent stem cells can routinely be cultured as single cells without the addition of ROCKi. CT521 also supports efficient clonal survival and expansion of hES and iPS cells, greatly facilitating the study of genomic alterations and manipulations in pluripotent cells. Furthermore, it renders more efficient reprogramming of specific tissue cells to iPSCs.
The instructions include recommendations for transfer, passaging, thawing, and cryopreservation of hPSCs on CT521.
Important notes
- “For Research Use or Non-Commercial Manufacturing of Cell, Gene, or Tissue-Based Products”.
- Biolaminin 521 CTG (CT521) has been developed and manufactured to allow customers to qualify the material for use in the manufacturing of cells for clinical research.
- CT521 is animal origin-free to the secondary level according to the ISCT guidance document ˮISCT Animal-Free Origin Survey Results-Summary”. All materials used in the production process have full traceability.
- The product has supporting documentation such as Certificate of Analysis (CoA) and Animal Origin Free Statement provided with every lot to support regulatory filings.
- The laminin stock solution is long-term stable when stored at -20°C to -80°C. Please refer to the product-specific CoA for shelf life details.
- Repeated freeze-thawing should be avoided. If desired, the laminin stock can be dispensed into working aliquots and stored at -20°C to -80°C. Thawed, undiluted laminin stock is stable for at least 3 months when stored at +2°C to +8°C under aseptic conditions.
- Avoid long exposure of the protein to ambient temperatures.
- For your convenience, the coated plates can be kept for up to 4 weeks when stored aseptically at +2°C to +8°C.
Troubleshooting
Biolaminin plate coating
An uneven cell spread is often a coating issue and could be caused by the following:
- Too low coating concentration used. Increase the coating concentration is high enough to support even cell growth.
- Bad coating coverage/the plate has dried out. Ensure that the entire surface is covered by the laminin coating solution when preparing fresh plates. Also, do not let the plate dry out as this will inactivate the laminin coating. Too long time in the incubator or long storage without sealing could cause too much evaporation so that part of the plate dries out (often in the center).
hPSC splitting and seeding
- We recommend single-cell passage or passage as small clumps.
- Stem cells are sensitive and when using an enzyme, do not treat the cells too long as that will damage the cells. Cells attach tighter on laminin compared to other matrices and scraping or pipetting without first loose up cells can affect cell integrity and viability which could result in less attachment the next day. Less confluent cells need shorter treatment time whereas more confluent cells might need longer treatment time. The cells should detach easily without too much pipetting needed. Do not use too much mechanical force (extensive pipetting or scraping) as that will damage the cells. Increase the dissociation reagent incubation time rather than increasing the force. If the cells stick very hard to the Biolaminin 521 surface, try to lower the coating concentration.
- After seeding: most cells should have attached after 1 hour and the cells should be evenly distributed over the entire plate. If there is a lot of cell death after seeding, the cells have most likely been treated too harshly during splitting.
- The day after seeding: the cell has migrated and should have formed small colonies and will continue to expand as a homogenous monolayer. Cells cultured on the Biolaminin 521 matrix are ready to be passaged when cell culture is 60-99% confluent. Depending on the cell line, seeding density and on the medium used, cultures are usually passaged 3-6 days after seeding.
Product name
Biolaminin 521 CTG
Product code
CT521
Declaration
For research use or non-commercial manufacturing of cell, gene, or tissue-based products
Documents
Storage
-20°C to -80°C
Concentration
0.1 mg/ml
Appearance
Clear, colorless solution with a pH of 7.5 with 20mM HEPES, 0.25M NaCl, 10% glycerol
Shipping condition
Dry Ice
Protein name
Laminin 521 (Laminin-11)
Classification
Animal origin-free, human recombinant protein
Product application
Culture of human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells (hESC and hiPSC), mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and most anchorage-dependent progenitor cell types. Differentiation and maintenance of specialized cells, such as hepatocytes, cardiomyocytes, and neurons.
Clonal culturing of human embryonic stem cells on laminin-521/E-cadherin matrix in defined and xeno-free environment
Rodin S., Antonsson L., Niaudet C., Simonson O.E., Salmela E., Hansson E.M., Domogatskaya A., Xiao Z., Damdimopoulou P., Sheikhi M., Inzunza J., Nilsson A.S., Baker D., Kuiper R., Sun Y., Blennow E., Nordenskjöld M., Grinnemo K.H., Kere J., Betsholtz C., Hovatta O., Tryggvason K.
Nature Communications, 2014
Monolayer culturing and cloning of human pluripotent stem cells on laminin-521 based matrices under xeno-free and chemically defined conditions
Rodin S., Antonsson L., Hovatta O., Tryggvason K.
Nature Protocols, 2014
a-5 Laminin Synthesized by Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Promotes Self-Renewal
Laperle A., Hsiao C., Lampe M., Mortier J., Saha K., Palecek S.P., and Masters K.S.
Stem Cell Reports, 2015
Laminin 521 stabilizes the pluripotency expression pattern of human embryonic stem cells initially derived on feeder cells
Albalushi H., Kurek M., Karlsson L., Landreh L., Rós Kjartansdóttir K., Söder O., Hovatta O., Stukenborg J-B.
Stem Cell International, 2017
Niche-derived laminin-511 promotes midbrain dopaminergic neuron survival and differentiation through YAP
Zhang D., Yang S., Toledo E.M., Gyllborg D., Saltó C., Villaescusa J.C., Arenas E.
Sci Signal. 2017
Size guide
Not sure how much laminin you need? To make it easy, we have created a tool where you can calculate the amount needed for your experiments. Just choose culture well format and fill in the desired coating concentration to see the amount required.