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Strategies for Inducing Spatially Defined Stem Cell Differentiation for Tissue Engineering Applications
Author(s) -
Alsberg Eben
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.91.2
Subject(s) - biomaterial , tissue engineering , regeneration (biology) , microbiology and biotechnology , stem cell , scaffold , cell adhesion , cellular differentiation , cell , chemistry , regenerative medicine , biomedical engineering , biology , nanotechnology , materials science , biochemistry , engineering , gene
Tissue engineering holds the promise of producing functional biological replacements to repair damaged and diseased tissues in the body. The complex signals that are implicated in tissue morphogenesis, repair and homeostasis can be used as a guide for the development of innovative biomaterial systems for tissue regeneration. Through the precise temporal and spatial presentation of soluble bioactive factors, mechanical forces, and biomaterial physical and biochemical properties, we aspire to create biomaterials and microenvironments that regulate cell gene expression and new tissue formation. Today's talk will explore two strategies to pattern some of these signals to spatially guide the differentation of human mesenchymalstem cells (hMSCs), which are capable of giving rise to connective tissue cells such as those necessary for bone and cartilage formation. First, a biodegradable biomaterial system will be introduced that has been engineered with the capacity for independent modulation of the soluble (e.g., growth factors) and insoluble (e.g., cell adhesion signals)biochemical signaling environment and biomaterial physical properties (e.g., the elastic moduli). The ability to independently control and spatially pattern these environmental parameters will be demonstrated to be a powerful tool for elucidating their individual and combined effects on hMSC function. Then a new scaffold‐freehMSC system will be described that has been used to engineer biphasicosteochondral constructs incorporated with two different types of bioactivemicroparticles enabling spatially organized cell differentiation. Using incorporated bioactive microparticles to drive the formation of complex, stem cell‐derived osteochondral tissues could enable earlier in vivo implantation, and potentially improve the rate and quality of osteochondral defect repair. Support or Funding Information This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (AR063194; AR007505; AR066193) and the AO Foundation.