title: The effect of immobilized platelet derived growth factor AA on neural stem/progenitor cell differentiation on cell-adhesive hydrogels.
abstract: Neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) hold great promise in regenerative medicine; however, controlling their differentiation to a desired phenotype within a defined matrix is challenging. To guide the differentiation of NSPCs, we first created a cell-adhesive matrix of agarose modified with glycine-arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-serine (GRGDS) and then demonstrated the multipotentiality of NSPCs to differentiate to the three primary cell types of the central nervous system on this matrix: neurons, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. We then examined whether immobilized platelet derived growth factor AA (PDGF-AA) would promote differentiation similarly to the same soluble factor and found similar percentages of NSPCs differentiated to oligodendrocytes as determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Interestingly, the gene expression of the differentiated oligodendrocytes was similar for 2', 3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNPase) but different for myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) in the presence of soluble PDGF-AA vs. immobilized PDGF-AA. These results demonstrate for the first time, that it is possible to control the differentiation of NSPCs, and specifically to oligodendrocytes, in cell-adhesive matrices with immobilized PDGF-AA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Yukie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aizawa
authors.forename: Nic
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Leipzig
authors.forename: Tasneem
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zahir
authors.forename: Molly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shoichet
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D020100:Hydrogels; D008297:Male; D009417:Nerve Tissue / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor; C075278:platelet-derived growth factor A