title: Artificial niche substrates for embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cell cultures.
abstract: Stem cells possess the ability to self-renew and differentiate into other cell types. In vivo, stem cells reside in their own anatomic niches in a defined physiological environment, from which they are released to differentiate into a required cell type when deemed appropriate. While a resident within the niche, the stem cell receives signals that in turn maintain the cell in a pluripotent state. In addition, the niche also provides nourishment to the cell. Physically, the niche also serves to anchor the cell via various ECM components and cell-adhesion molecules. Therefore, in vitro models that replicate the in vivo niche will lead to a better understanding of stem cell fate and turnover. In turn, this will help inform attempts to culture stem cells in vitro on artificial niche-like substrates. In this review, we have highlighted recent studies describing artificial niche-like substrates used to culture embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Nano Medical Engineering Laboratory, RIKEN Advanced Science Institute, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan. Electronic address: b-joddar@riken.jp.
authors.forename: Binata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Joddar
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ito
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D061252:Feeder Cells; D006801:Humans; D057026:Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D015398:Signal Transduction; D055153:Stem Cell Niche / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Differentiation; Embryonic stem cell; Induced pluripotent stem cell; Niche; Pluripotency