Pluripotent Stem Cell Facility
The Pluripotent Stem Cell Facility at SKAN RT provides state-of-the-art resources for the generation, maintenance and differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells. Disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived 2D and 3D models offer a unique opportunity to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying human diseases in a dish.
Housed in a clean-room facility, the Pluripotent Stem Cell Facility is equipped with Thermo Fisher Scientific Herasafe Biosafety cabinets, CO₂ incubators, nucleofectors, centrifuges, CRISPR-Cas–based genome editing capabilities, and imaging systems such as the EVOS M5000 microscope, enabling researchers to develop patient-specific disease models and better understand disease mechanisms.
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Laboratory
The Hematopoietic Stem Cell (HSC) Laboratory at SKAN Research Trust has been established to advance cutting-edge research in stem cell biology and hematopoiesis. The facility is dedicated to investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing normal and malignant blood cell development, with a particular focus on hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), bone marrow biology, aging and hematological disorders.
The laboratory operates within a high-standard clean-room environment and is equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure to support world-class research in hematology, stem cell biology, and regenerative medicine. The facility houses three Thermo Fisher Scientific Herasafe biological safety cabinets, which provide a sterile and contamination-free workspace for the isolation, culture, genetic manipulation, and maintenance of primary hematopoietic stem cells and other sensitive cell populations.
To support advanced stem cell culture applications, the laboratory is equipped with both standard CO₂ incubators and tri-gas CO₂ incubators with variable oxygen control. These systems enable precise regulation of oxygen tension, allowing researchers to recreate the physiological hypoxic conditions of the bone marrow niche. Such microenvironmental control is critical for maintaining hematopoietic stem cell quiescence, self-renewal capacity, viability, and functional integrity during in vitro culture and experimental manipulation.
Current research activities include the isolation and characterization of CD34⁺ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells from patient-derived samples, genetic engineering of HSCs using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, viral vector-mediated gene transfer, and other advanced molecular approaches. The laboratory is also well equipped to perform a broad range of stem cell-based investigations, including:
- Hematopoietic differentiation and lineage commitment assays
- Colony-forming unit (CFU) and clonogenic assays
- Cell proliferation and viability assays
- Apoptosis and cell death analyses
- Cell cycle and quiescence studies
- Stem cell self-renewal and expansion assays
- Migration and homing-related functional assays
- Drug sensitivity and therapeutic response studies
- Gene expression and transcriptomic profiling
- Bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing analyses
- Epigenetic and multi-omics investigations
The Hematopoietic Stem Cell Laboratory is further strengthened by seamless access to SKAN Research Trust’s integrated research infrastructure, including a dedicated rodent and primary cell culture laboratory, advanced flow cytometry platforms, high-resolution fluorescence microscopy systems, next-generation sequencing technologies and single-cell transcriptomics capabilities.
By integrating stem cell biology, functional genomics, advanced imaging, flow cytometry, and multi-omics technologies, the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Laboratory aims to drive high-impact discoveries in hematopoiesis, leukemia biology, bone marrow microenvironment research, aging, and translational hematology.