Stimulatory Role of Glycated Fetal Bovine Serum Along with Iron on In Vitro Production of Insulin by Differentiated Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Mouse embryonic stem cells were caused to differentiate into insulin-producing cells by 2 methods: Stem cells were cultured with or without feeder cells. In both cases, after confirmation of their differentiation into the insulin producing cells, the effects of the addition of 10μl of 50 mM glucose, 10 μl of glycated fetal bovine serum (GFBS) and 10 μl of GFBS + 20 mM iron on the differentiated stem cells were examined. The addition of GFBS or GFBS + iron to the cultures with or without the feeder cells caused them to produce a significantly higher amount of insulin than did the addition of glucose. However, this enhancement by GFBS or GFBS + iron stopped after 12 hr of addition; and the culture medium was turned yellow after 15 hr and at that time the cells died, which may be due to the cytotoxicity of GFBS or GFBS + iron.