A simple tool to improve pluripotent stem cell differentiation
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Updated: May 12, 2026

Transient Treatment of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells with DMSO to Promote Differentiation
Published on: July 17, 2019
Sundari Chetty1, Felicia Walton Pagliuca, Christian Honore
1Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract:
We describe a method to help overcome restrictions on the differentiation propensities of human pluripotent stem cells. Culturing pluripotent stem cells in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) activates the retinoblastoma protein, increases the proportion of cells in the early G1 phase of the cell cycle and, in more than 25 embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cell lines, improves directed differentiation into multiple lineages. DMSO treatment also improves differentiation into terminal cell types in several cell lines.
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