User Guide

Quick-NeuronTM Excitatory - SeV Kit (Small)
Catalog Number: EX-SeV-S

Introduction
The Quick-Neuron™ Excitatory - SeV Kit (Small) facilitates rapid and efficient differentiation of human iPS or ES cells
into excitatory neurons in just 10 days. Our proprietary transcription factor-based stem cell differentiation method uses
Sendai virus to produce highly pure populations of neurons without a genetic footprint. Quick-Neuron™ Excitatory differentiated cell cultures display typical neurite outgrowth and express a variety of neuronal markers, such as the pan-neuronal marker tubulin beta 3 class III (TUBB3) and the glutamatergic neuron marker vesicular glutamate transporter 1(vGLUT1). When handled and maintained according to the instructions in this user guide, excitatory neurons are viablelong-term and are suitable for a variety of characterization and neurotoxicity assays.
Scale: 			
			

The Quick-Neuron™ Excitatory - SeV Kit (Small) contains a set of reagents for use with a totalof 4 wells of a 24-well plate.

Related Products:			

Quick-Neuron™ Excitatory - Human iPSC-derived Neurons, Catalog Number: EX-SeV-CW
Quick-Neuron™ Excitatory - Maintenance Medium, Catalog Number: EX-MM

Kit Contents
Upon receipt, store the reagents at the temperatures indicated in the table below. All reagents are shipped on dry ice.
Reagents

VolumeStorage

QN-SeV*

55 μl

-80°C

Component N

840 μl

-20°C or -80°C

Component G1

10 μl-20°C or -80°C

Component G2

16 μl-20°C or -80°C

Component P

14 μl-20°C or -80°C

Coating Material A

15.7 μl-20°C or -80°C*IMPORTANT! This kit contains Sendai virus (SeV) particles
that are active at 33°C and become inactive at 37°C. SeV is
non-pathogenic in humans, and humans are not natural hosts of
SeV; however, Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) containment isrequired for its use. Please use a biological safety cabinet,
laminar flow hood, and proper personal protective equipment inorder to prevent mucosal exposure. More information on BSL-2
guidelines can be found at www.cdc.gov/labs/BMBL.html.

This kit contains iMatrix-511 silk (Nippi, Inc.).

Conditions of Use
This product is for research use only. It is not approved for use in humans or for therapeutic or diagnostic use.

Technical Support
For technical support, please contact us at cs@elixirgensci.com or call +1 (443) 869-5420 (M-F 9am-5pm EST).

Last revised: January 22, 2021

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1Required Consumables
Item

VendorCatalog Number

24-well tissue-culture-treated polystyrene plate(e.g., Corning Costar Flat Bottom Cell Culture Plates)

Fisher Scientific07-200-740

DMEM/F12

ThermoFisher

21331020

Neurobasal Medium

ThermoFisher

21103049

Glutamax (100x)

ThermoFisher

35050061

Penicillin-Streptomycin

ThermoFisher

15140122

TrypLE Select Enzyme (1X)*

ThermoFisher

12563011

0.02% EDTA in DPBS

Sigma-Aldrich

E8008-100ML

Poly-L-Ornithine**

Sigma-Aldrich

P4957-50ML

Extracellular Matrix such as**• Laminin Mouse Protein, Natural, or• Geltrex Basement Membrane Matrix

ThermoFisher

23017015 orA15696-01

Phosphate-buffered saline (without Ca++ Mg++)

ThermoFisher

20012050

ROCK inhibitor Y27632

Selleckchem

S1049

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)

Sigma-Aldrich

D8418

12-mm glass coverslips***

VWR

89167-106

100% Ethanol

Multiple vendors* Can be substituted with our Cell Dissociation Reagent (Solution D1), Catalog Number: CDR.
** Can be substituted with our Neuron Coating Solutions (Coating Materials B and C), Catalog Number: NCS.
*** Glass coverslips from different brands might have different effects on the growth of neural cells. We recommend using glass
coverslips from Chemglass for the best results.

Source hPSC Culture Conditions
The Quick-Neuron™ Excitatory - SeV Kit (Small) gives the best differentiation results when source hPSCs have been
maintained in StemFit® Basic04, StemFlex™ Medium, or other similar culture media which enable the maintenance of
cultures by single-cell passaging. This protocol also assumes that the source hPSCs are cultured in a 35-mm culture
dish or one well of a 6-well plate. If iMatrix-511 silk is routinely used as a coating substrate, prepare one culture dish orwell precoated with 0.25 μg/cm2 iMatrix-511 silk diluted in 2 ml chilled PBS for this kit.
• The protocols and reagents for StemFit® Basic04 and iMatrix-511 silk culture conditions are available at Elixirgen
Scientific (Catalog Numbers: ASB04, NI511S).
• Differentiation should not be performed until the cells are at least 14 days post-thaw.

WorkflowMedia
Preparation

Plate Preparation
Treatment
Plating

Day -1/0

Day 0

Medium Changes
Day 1

Day 2
Medium N(G1)

Medium iN

33°C

Plate/Coverslip
Preparation

Maintenance

Passaging Cells
Day 3

Day 4

...

Medium N(G2P)...

Day 10EX-MM*

37°C*From Day 10, users may maintain differentiated neurons in the maintenance medium best suited for their needs,
though we recommend Quick-Neuron™ Excitatory - Maintenance Medium, Catalog Number: EX-MM.

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Media Preparation
10 mM ROCK inhibitor Y27632 (iROCK)
1. Dissolve 10 mg ROCK inhibitor Y27632 in 3.12 ml DMSO.
2. Make aliquots of a convenient volume (e.g., 100 μl).
3. This solution is hereafter referred to as iROCK and can be stored at -20°C.
0.5X TrypLE Select with EDTA (Solution D1)*
1. Mix 1 ml TrypLE Select Enzyme (1X) with 1 ml 0.02% EDTA in DPBS.
2. This mixture (hereafter referred to as Solution D1) can be stored at 4°C for 2 weeks.
*Can be substituted with our Cell Dissociation Reagent (Solution D1), Catalog Number: CDR.
0.002% Poly-L-Ornithine solution (ornithine)*
1. Take 300 μl 0.01% Poly-L-Ornithine solution and mix it with 1.2 ml PBS.
2. Store the resulting 0.002% Poly-L-Ornithine solution (hereafter referred to as ornithine) for up to 2 weeks at 4°C.
*Ornithine can be substituted with Coating Material B from our Neuron Coating Solutions, Catalog Number: NCS.
1 mg/ml laminin stock solution (laminin)*
1. Thaw Laminin Mouse Protein, Natural and chill PBS at 4°C or on ice.
2. Mix the Laminin Mouse Protein, Natural and PBS to make the 1 mg/ml stock solution (hereafter referred to aslaminin).
• Laminin concentration varies by lot, so use the number specified on the vial or CoA when making yourcalculations.
3. Make aliquots of a convenient volume (e.g., 15 μl) and store at -20°C.
*Laminin can be substituted with Coating Material C from our Neuron Coating Solutions, Catalog Number: NCS.
Medium N
1. Prepare Medium N using the reagents listed in the table below.
• Thaw Component N on ice for 20-30 minutes.
• Thaw all other reagents at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
2. Store Medium N for up to 2 weeks at 4°C. The leftover reagents can be discarded or saved for other uses.
Medium N Reagents

VolumeDMEM/F12

12 ml

Neurobasal Medium

12 ml

200 mM Glutamax (100x)

125 μlPenicillin-Streptomycin (10000 units/ml; 100x)

250 μlComponent N

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~5 hrDay 0
Plate Preparation
1. Prepare diluted Coating Material A by mixing together the following components in a 15 ml conical tube.
• Thaw Coating Material A on ice for 20-30 minutes (or at 4°C overnight one day before Day 0).
• Make sure chilled PBS is used for this mixture.

2.
3.
4.
5.

Diluted Coating Material A Reagents

VolumeCoating Material A

11.9 µl

Chilled PBS

3.6 ml

Add 400 µl diluted Coating Material A to each new well of 4 wells.
Incubate the plate at 37°C, 5% CO2 for 2 hours (or 4°C overnight one day before Day 0).
Aspirate the supernatant from each well and add 500 µl PBS.
Incubate the plate at 37°C, 5% CO2 until the hPSCs are ready for plating.

Treatment
1. Prepare Medium iN by mixing together the following components in a 15 ml conical tube.
• Warm Medium N, iROCK, and Solution D1 at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
• The rest of Medium N should be stored at 4°C for later use.
Medium iN Reagents

VolumeMedium N

2.5 mliROCK

2.5 µl

2.
3.
4.
5.

Thaw QN-SeV on ice.
Tap the Solution D1 tube 5 times with a finger and centrifuge at maximum speed for 1 minute.
Aspirate old medium from hPSC culture and add 2 ml PBS.
Rock the plate 3 times, aspirate PBS from the culture, and add 300 μl of the cell dissociation reagent Solution D1.
Keep the rest of Solution D1 at 4°C for use on Day 3.
6. Incubate the culture at 37°C, 5% CO2 for 5 minutes. If all the cells are not rounded under a microscope, incubate at
37°C, 5% CO2 for up to 5 more minutes in 1-2 minute increments (see images below).
Before treatment

Almost ready

Ready to remove

Treated too long

7. Carefully pipet out Solution D1 from the culture using a P1000 pipettor and add 1 ml Medium iN to the well.
8. Disperse the medium over the bottom surface of the well by pipetting 8-15 times to detach cells.
9. Using the same pipette tip, collect the cell suspension in a 1.5 ml tube.
IMPORTANT! In this protocol, users will treat hPSCs with QN-SeV in a tube and then plate the cells onto 4 wells with
250 µl Medium iN (0.5 x 105 cells) per well. However, we recommend preparing a suspension of 1.1 ml to avoid
insufficiency. First, QN-SeV should be mixed with 110 μl of a dense cell suspension to increase the chance that
QN-SeV finds its host cells. After 10 minutes incubation at 33°C, the total volume will be brought up to 1.1 ml with
Medium iN. Cell count may vary based on cell health, the method, and instrument used for cell counting.
10. Count cells to determine the volume of cell suspension needed for 4 wells and include a 10% buffer (a total of 2.2 x
105 cells to plate 0.5 x 105 cells in each of the 4 wells). Transfer the determined volume of the cell suspension into a
15 ml conical tube. Adjust the volume to 110 μl with Medium iN. If the volume of the cell suspension needed to get
2.2 x 105 cells exceeds 110 μl, centrifuge the required volume of cell suspension at 200xg for 4 minutes, remove thesupernatant, and resuspend the pellet into 110 μl Medium iN.
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IMPORTANT! Before adding QN-SeV, ensure that it is fully thawed. Do not centrifuge, vortex, or mix SeV with apipettor; SeV is highly sensitive to physical stress.
11. Add 55 µl QN-SeV to the hPSCs and mix them by tapping with finger 2-3 times. Cap the tube loosely to allow gas
exchange.
12. Incubate the cell suspension at 33°C, 5% CO2 for 10 minutes with intermittent mixing, by finger tapping, every 2
minutes.
Plating
1. Bring up the volume of cell suspension to 1.1 ml with Medium iN.
2. Aspirate PBS from only one coated well at a time and add 250 µl cell suspension to the well. Most of the PBS
should be aspirated but not completely to prevent the coated wells from drying before adding the cell suspension.
Likewise, the cell suspension should be added to the well immediately after PBS is removed. Handle one well after
another.
3. Move the plate in 5 cycles of quick back-and-forth and side-to-side motions to evenly distribute treated cells in thecultures.
4. Incubate the cultures at 33°C, 5% CO2 overnight.

~1 hr

Day 1
Medium Change
1. Prepare Medium N(G1) by mixing together the following components in a 15 ml conical tube.
• Warm Medium N at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
• Thaw Component G1 on ice for 20-30 minutes. Spin down before use.
• Keep the rest Medium N(G1) at 4°C for its use on Day 2.
Medium N(G1) Reagents

VolumeMedium N

4.5 mlComponent G1

9 µl

2. Pipet out the old medium from each well using a P1000 pipettor and add 500 μl Medium N(G1).
3. Incubate the cultures at 33°C, 5% CO2 overnight.

<1 hr

Day 2
Medium Change and Temperature Shift
1. Warm Medium N(G1) at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
2. Pipet out the old medium from each well using a P1000 pipettor and add 500 μl Medium N(G1).
3. Incubate the cultures at 37°C, 5% CO2 overnight.

4-6 hrDay 3
1. Prepare Medium N(G2P) by mixing together the following components in a 15 ml conical tube.
• Warm Medium N and Component P at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
• Thaw Component G2 on ice for 20-30 minutes.
• Keep the rest of Medium N(G2P) at 4°C.
Medium N(G2P) Reagents

VolumeMedium N

13 ml

Component G2

13 µl

Component P

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5Plate/Coverslip Preparation
IMPORTANT! Cells can be plated on glass coverslips or in wells of a 24-well plate depending on the desired
application. Wells are better suited for functional assays, whereas coverslips work best for immunostaining and imaging.
If using glass coverslips, follow all instructions starting at Step 1. If not, start at Step 1 and skip Steps 2 and 3. For firsttime users, we recommend only passaging two of the cultures and maintaining the other cultures (or any cultures lessthan 40% confluent) without passaging. Prepare one coverslip or well for each well being passaged.
1. Warm Medium N(G2P) and thaw ornithine* at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
2. (Coverslip only) Soak 12-mm glass coverslips and the tips of forceps in 100% ethanol for 3 minutes.
3. (Coverslip only) One by one, air dry each coverslip for 1 minute or until completely dry and put it into a well of the
24-well plate using the sterilized forceps.
4. Vortex ornithine briefly and centrifuge it at a maximum speed for a few seconds.
5. Add 300 μl ornithine to the surface of each glass coverslip or well.
• IMPORTANT! If using coverslips, ensure they are fully submerged under solutions from Step 5 onwards.
6. Incubate the plate at 37°C, 5% CO2 for at least 2 hours (or at 4°C overnight one day before plating).
7. Thaw laminin* and chill 1.5 ml PBS on ice for 20-30 minutes.
8. Add 15 µl laminin to the chilled PBS. Mix well.
• All PBS washes should be done dropwise and with room temperature PBS. Chilled PBS is only for the 		coating step.
9. Aspirate the supernatant from each coverslip/well and add 500 μl PBS.
10. Repeat Step 9.
11. Aspirate PBS from each coverslip/well and add 300 μl diluted laminin.
12. Incubate the plate at 37°C, 5% CO2 for at least 2 hours or until cells are ready for plating.
13. After the laminin incubation, pipet out most of the supernatant, but not all, from each coverslip or well using a P1000
pipettor.
14. Rinse with 500 μl PBS.
15. Pipet out most of the PBS, but not all, from each well using a P1000 pipettor.
16. Repeat Steps 14-15
17. Add 300 μl Medium N(G2P) to each well or coverslip using a P1000 pipettor.
18. Incubate the plate at 37°C, 5% CO2 until cells are ready for plating.
*Ornithine and laminin can be substituted with Coating Materials B and C, respectively, from our Neuron Coating 		Solutions, Catalog Number: NCS.
Passaging Cells
IMPORTANT! For the following steps, gently pipet and add solutions. Differentiating cells are delicate and should be
handled with great care.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Make sure that Solution D1 is at room temperature for at least 1 hour before use.
Pipet out the old medium from each well using a P1000 pipettor and add 500 μl PBS.
Pipet out the PBS from each well using a P1000 pipettor and add 80 μl Solution D1.
Rock the plate 3 times to spread the Solution D1 evenly.
Incubate the cultures at 37°C, 5% CO2 for 3 minutes.
Carefully pipet out Solution D1 from each well using a P200 pipettor and add 200 µl Medium N(G2P).

IMPORTANT! Steps 7-9 are critical. Perform these steps one well at a time. Refer to the images below to successfully
manage cell treatment and dissociation.
Before Solution D1 treatment

6

During Solution D1 treatment

After dissociation

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7. Working one well at a time, disperse the medium quickly over the bottom surface of the well by pipetting 6-8 times
to detach cells using a P200 pipettor.
8. Observe cells and/or cell aggregates floating in the well under a microscope. It is normal that 10-20% of cells 		
remain attached to the well bottom after pipetting. These clusters of cells are not supposed to be lifted. Do not
attempt to detach all of the cells remaining on the well bottom.
9. Gently pipet the cell suspension up and down in the well up to 5 times to break the cell aggregates using a P200
pipettor. Excessive pipetting can damage the already-suspended neuronal cells.
10. Collect 200 μl cell suspension from each well with a P200 pipettor set to 100 μl and transfer all the cells to a new
well or glass coverslip coated with ornithine and laminin 100 μl at a time.
• IMPORTANT! If cultures are >70% confluent on Day 4, transfer only half of the cell suspension (100 μl) toeach new well or glass coverslip to avoid excessively high cell density. Add 100 μl Medium N(G2P) after thecell suspension is transferred to bring the total volume up to 200 μl.
• When transferring the cell suspension to a coverslip, bring the tip very close to the coverslip and pipet slowly
to mount cells right at the center of the coverslip.
11. Incubate the cultures at 37°C, 5% CO2 for 1 hour.
12. Observe each well under the microscope to confirm that the cells are attached to the well or glass coverslip.
13. Incubate the cultures at 37°C, 5% CO2 overnight.
Maintenance (Unpassaged Cultures Only)
1. Pipet out the old medium from each unpassaged well using a P1000 pipettor and add 500 μl Medium N(G2P).
• IMPORTANT! For the wells that are not passaged, the attachment of cells is weaker and so a small volumeof the old medium (i.e., just enough to cover the surface of the well) should be left. The fresh medium should
be applied along the wall of the well very slowly.
2. Incubate the cultures at 37°C, 5% CO2 overnight.

Days 4-9<1 hr

Maintenance
1. Warm Medium N(G2P) at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
2. Pipet out the old medium from each well using a P1000 pipettor and add 800 μl Medium N(G2P).
• IMPORTANT! For the wells that are not passaged, the attachment of cells is weaker and so a small volumeof the old medium (i.e., just enough to cover the surface of the well) should be left. The fresh medium should
be applied along the wall of the well very slowly.
3. Incubate the cultures at 37°C, 5% CO2 for 2-3 days.
4. Repeat Steps 1-3 until Day 10.

Day 10
Assay or Continuous Maturation
Differentiated neurons can be observed on Day 5. For more mature neurons, we recommend culturing cells until Day
10. From Day 10, users may maintain differentiated neurons in the maintenance medium best suited for their needs,
though we recommend Quick-Neuron™ Excitatory - Maintenance Medium, Catalog Number: EX-MM. Differentiation into
excitatory neurons after using the Quick-Neuron™ Excitatory - SeV Kit can be confirmed with anti-TUBB3 (tubulin beta
3 class III, a global marker for neurons) and anti-vGLUT1 (vesicular glutamate transporter 1, a glutamatergic neuron
marker) antibodies.

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Appendix

Figure 1. Representative images of Quick-Neuron™ Excitatory - SeV Kit cell cultures on days 1-10 post-differentiation(scale bar = 100 μm).

Figure 2. Immunofluorescent staining of Quick-Neuron™ Excitatory - SeV Kit cell cultures shows typical neurite growthand expression of the pan-neuronal marker TUBB3 and the glutamatergic neuron-specific marker vGLUT1 on day 10
post-differentiation (scale bar = 100 μm). Staining conditions: Anti-β-III tubulin monoclonal antibody (R&D Systems,
Catalog Number: MAB1195, 1:250 dilution) in combination with a secondary antibody (Invitrogen,Catalog Number:
A32723, Goat anti-Mouse IgG (H+L) Highly Cross-Adsorbed Secondary Antibody, AlexaFluor Plus 488, 1:500 dilution).
Anti-VGLUT1 Rabbit Polyclonal primary antibody (Synaptic Systems, Catalog Number: 135 303, 1:100 dilution) in combination with a secondary antibody (Invitrogen, Goat anti-Rabbit IgG (H+L) Highly Cross-Adsorbed Secondary Antibody,
Alexa Fluor 594, 1:500 dilution). Nuclei were counterstained with Hoechst 33324

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