Granted Patent B2

US 12,540,308 · App. 17/628,710 · Granted Feb 3, 2026

Inventors: Seok Chung (Seoul, KR); Ji Hoon Yang (Seoul, KR); Kyu Hwan Na (Busan, KR); Ye SI Jun (Seoul, KR); Yong Hun Jung (Seoul, KR)

Assignee: NEXT & BIO INC.

C12N5/0602C12M23/12C12N2513/00

Abstract

Claims (24)

1 . A method of proliferating stem cells, the method comprising:

i) culturing cells, wherein the cultured cells are somatic cells;

ii) preparing a hydrogel-free 3D cell culture plate for producing stem cells;

iii) reprogramming the cultured cells into stem cells in the hydrogel-free 3D cell culture plate;

iv) forming a spheroid of the reprogrammed stem cells;

v) preparing a hydrogel-free 3D cell culture plate for subculturing; and

vi) separating the spheroid into single cells and subculturing the single cells in the hydrogel-free 3D cell culture plate once or more;

wherein the 3D cell culture plate comprises:

a well plate comprising a plurality of main wells and a plurality of sub wells formed at lower portions of the plurality of main wells to be injected with a cell culture solution and comprising recessed parts on a bottom surface thereof; and a connector for high content screening (HCS), which supports the well plate, and

the connector for high content screening (HCS) comprises a base equipped with a fixing means so as to be attached to and detached from a lower end of the well plate and a cover positioned on an upper portion of the well plate to be coupled to the base,

each of the plurality of main wells has a step and includes a space part between the step and each of the plurality of sub wells; and each of the plurality of sub wells has an inclined surface formed so as to taper toward the recessed parts;

each of the plurality of sub wells has an upper end diameter ranging from 3.0 mm to 4.5 mm, the recessed parts have an upper end diameter ranging from 0.45 mm to 1.5 mm, and a ratio of the diameter of each of the plurality of sub wells to the diameter of the recessed parts ranges from 1:0.1 to 1:0.5;

the step has an inclination angle (θ1) ranging from 10° to 60° with respect to a wall of each of the plurality of main wells; and

the inclined surface (θ2) between each of the plurality of sub wells and the recessed parts ranges from 40° to 50°.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the stem cells are one or more selected from the group consisting of adult stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, adipose-derived stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells, and cord blood stem cells.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the subculturing is subculturing for 1 to 20 generations.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the main well has an individual volume ranging from 100 to 300 μl,

the recessed parts have an individual volume ranging from 20 μl to 50 μl, and

an individual volume ratio of each of the plurality of main wells to the recessed parts is 1:0.1 to 1:0.5 on average.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein

the space part has a height (a h ) ranging from 2.0 to 3.0 mm on average,

each of the plurality of sub wells has a height (b h ) ranging from 1.0 to 2.0 mm on average, and

a height ratio (a h :b h ) of the space part to each of the plurality of sub wells ranges from 1:0.3 to 1:1.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the somatic cells are seeded in each of the plurality of sub wells of the cell culture plate at 100 to 1000 cells/well.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (95)