When do I use a specific extracellular (ECM) protein instead of Gelin-S?
If you are cultivating stem or progenitor cells on Extracel hydrogels, you should consider using specific ECM proteins in place of Gelin-S. Gelin-S is thiol-modified, denatured bovine collagen I. It is possible that the Gelin-S (especially at lower concentrations, <25 vol%) will function primarily to provide cell attachment sites without signaling differentiation. However, it is also possible that it will cause your cells to differentiate in undesirable ways. If you understand the native extracellular matrix for your cell type, then adding the appropriate ECM protein may provide better results than using Gelin-S.
