Biolaminin 521 MX (MX521)

Human recombinant laminin 521

Biolaminin 521 MX is the natural laminin for pluripotent stem cells and therefore reliably facilitates self-renewal of human ES and iPS cells in a chemically defined, feeder-free, and animal origin-free stem cell culture system. MX521 enables efficient single-cell passaging of genetically stable and pluripotent stem cells without the need for any apoptosis inhibitors for the superior quality of your cells and studies.

In need of a higher concentrated Biolaminin 521 MX?

A biologically relevant culture environment

Recreating the natural cell niche is key to successful cultivation. The physical, topological, and biochemical expression of the different laminin isoforms in the BM is heterogeneous and tissue-specific.

Biolaminin 521 MX (MX521-0501) 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. 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.

Biolaminin 521 products in different grades – from research to clinical use.

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.

After birth, α5-laminins represent the most common laminins in the body and MX521 supports many diverse tissue cell types, such as cells from the pancreas, vascular, nervous, and muscular systems.



  • Pluripotent stem cells

    Biorelevant culture of human ES and iPS cells on Biolaminin substrates Biolaminin 521 successfully replicates the genuine human stem cell niche […]
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  • 3D culture

    Biosilk and Biolaminin key advantages 3D cell culture and organoid formation 3D culture systems for disease modeling, drug screening, and […]
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  • Clonal stem cell culture

    Biorelevant clonal stem cell culture on Biolaminin substrates Biolaminin 521 successfully replicates the genuine human stem cell niche in vitro […]
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  • 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 […]
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  • Neural cells

    Biorelevant culture of neural cells on Biolaminin substrates Laminins are widely expressed in the nervous system and are essential for […]
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  • Hepatocytes and hepatoblasts

    Biorelevant culture of liver cells on Biolaminin substrates Several laminins play a vital role in liver progenitor cell-mediated regeneration The […]
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  • Eye cells

    Biorelevant culture of eye cells Laminin proteins are important components in the eye microenvironment Biolaminin products have been succesfully used […]
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  • Endothelial cells

    Biorelevant culture of endothelial cells Biolaminin isoforms for vascular endothelial cell culture Endothelial cells that make up the vascular network […]
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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.