title: Matrix elasticity in vitro controls muscle stem cell fate in vivo.
abstract: Almost every laboratory that grows mammalian cells today grows their cells on tissue culture plastic, which was introduced to cell culture decades ago based on properties such as inertness, transparency, and so forth. However, plastic is rigid and unlike the many soft tissues in the body. Polymer gel systems that mimic the softness of various tissues have been developed over the past decade to test and understand the effects of rigidity on cells such as muscle cells. One recent study even shows that muscle stem cells expand much better in vitro on muscle-mimetic gels and that such cells prove optimal for engraftment in muscle.
authors.affiliation: University of Pennsylvania, 129 Towne Bldg, Philadelphia, PA, USA 19104. discher@seas.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raab
authors.forename: Jae-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Dennis E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Discher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004548:Elasticity; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000166:cytology*; D010969:Plastics / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D010969:Plastics; D011108:Polymers