First Proposal of Minimum Information About a Cellular Assay for Regenerative Medicine

• Published in: Stem cells translational medicine Vol. 5; no. 10; pp. 1345 - 1361
• Main Authors: Sakurai, Kunie, Kurtz, Andreas, Stacey, Glyn, Sheldon, Michael, Fujibuchi, Wataru
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Durham, NC, USA AlphaMed Press 01.10.2016; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Biological specimen banks; Data analysis; Enzymes; Experiments; Gene expression; Grants; Humans; Information sharing; Laboratories; Measurement techniques; Medical research; Medicine; Metadata; Ontology; Quality; Quality control; R&D; Regenerative medicine; Regenerative Medicine - standards; Registries; Research & development; Standards, Policies, Protocols, and Regulations for Cell-Based Therapies; Stem Cell Research; Stem Cells; Tissue Banks; Tissue engineering; United Kingdom > UK; Japan; Biological specimen banks; Regenerative medicine; Information sharing; Standards; Quality control; Stem cells
• ISSN: 2157-6564; 2157-6580
• DOI: 10.5966/sctm.2015-0393

This study proposes new minimum information guidelines, Minimum Information About a Cellular Assay for Regenerative Medicine (MIACARM), for cellular assay data deposition, to promote data exchange and facilitation of practical regenerative medicine. Advances in stem cell research have triggered scores of studies in regenerative medicine in a large number of institutions and companies around the world. However, reproducibility and data exchange among laboratories or cell banks are constrained by the lack of a standardized format for experiments. To enhance information flow in stem cell and derivative cell research, here we propose a minimum information standard to describe cellular assay data to facilitate practical regenerative medicine. Based on the existing Minimum Information About a Cellular Assay, we developed Minimum Information About a Cellular Assay for Regenerative Medicine (MIACARM), which allows for the description of advanced cellular experiments with defined taxonomy of human cell types. By using controlled terms, such as ontologies, MIACARM will provide a platform for cellular assay data exchange among cell banks or registries that have been established at more than 20 sites in the world. Significance Currently, there are more than 20 human cell information storage sites around the world. However, reproducibility and data exchange among different laboratories or cell information providers are usually inadequate or nonexistent because of the lack of a standardized format for experiments. This study, which is the fruit of collaborative work by scientists at stem cell banks and cellular information registries worldwide, including those in the U.S., the U.K., Europe, and Japan, proposes new minimum information guidelines, Minimum Information About a Cellular Assay for Regenerative Medicine (MIACARM), for cellular assay data deposition. MIACARM is intended to promote data exchange and facilitation of practical regenerative medicine.