Rho-Associated Protein Kinase Inhibitor and Hypoxia Synergistically Enhance the Self-Renewal, Survival Rate, and Proliferation of Human Stem Cells

Introduction: High-efficacy single-cell cloning of human-induced pluripotent cells (IPSCs) remains a major challenge. The development of a culture method that supports single-cell passaging while maintaining reproducibility, homogeneity, scalability, and cell expansion to clinically relevant numbers is necessary for clinical application. Methods: To address this issue, we combined the use of the rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitor Y-27632 and hypoxic conditions in culture to produce a novel, efficient single-cell culture method for human IPSCs and embryonic stem cells. Results: Through immunocytochemistry, alkaline phosphatase assays, and flow cytometry, we demonstrated that our method enabled high single-cell proliferation while maintaining self-renewal and pluripotency abilities. Discussion: We showed the beneficial effect of the interaction between hypoxia and ROCK inhibition in regulating cell proliferation, pluripotency, and single-cell survival of pluripotent cells.