UCLA

Culturing human intestinal stem cells from individual patient samples holds much promise within the realm of research or therapeutic applications. However, performing in-vitro experiments require a great deal of time, money, and effort. Often times researchers seek to reduce such factors by optimizing certain variables in the simplest and most efficient ways possible. In this experiment, growth conditions are optimized for human intestinal stem cells— derived from patient samples—grown in a 3-D matrigel environment. The method used for the optimization of growth factors, utilizes a Parabolic Response Surface (PRS) assisted by an Orthogonal Array Composite Design (OACD) to derive a second order equation that models spheroid growth, and aids in the discovery of the most efficient culture conditions. It was discovered that R-Spondin, the single most expensive component in culture, was able to be reduced by 50% and still produce spheroid numbers similar to standard/conventional conditions. This in turn translated to a 40-50% reduction in cost. It was also discovered that cell passaging and sample variation can heavily influence optimization results.