Premium
Hydrogels as artificial matrices for human embryonic stem cell self‐renewal
Author(s) -
Li Ying J.,
Chung Eugene H.,
Rodriguez Ryan T.,
Firpo Meri T.,
Healy Kevin E.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.30732
Subject(s) - embryonic stem cell , self healing hydrogels , extracellular matrix , materials science , microbiology and biotechnology , regenerative medicine , stem cell , tissue engineering , fibroblast , cell adhesion , adhesion , cell culture , biomedical engineering , biology , biochemistry , polymer chemistry , medicine , genetics , gene , composite material
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have the potential to differentiate into all cell types in the body and hold great promise for regenerative medicine; however, large‐scale expansion of undifferentiated hESCs remains a major challenge. Self‐renewal of hESCs requires culturing these cells on either mouse or human fibroblast cells (i.e., a feeder layer of cells), or on artificial extracellular matrices (ECMs) while supplementing the media with soluble growth factors. Here we report a completely synthetic ECM system composed of a semi‐interpenetrating polymer network (sIPN), a polymer hydrogel, which was designed to allow the independent manipulation of cell adhesion ligand presentation and matrix stiffness. In the short term, hESCs that were cultured on the sIPN adhered to the surface, remained viable, maintained the morphology, and expressed the markers of undifferentiated hESCs. This was the first demonstration that a completely synthetic ECM can support short‐term self‐renewal of hESCs. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2006