The effects of electrospun substrate-mediated cell colony morphology on the self-renewal of human induced pluripotent stem cells.
The development of xeno-free, chemically defined stem cell culture systems has been a primary focus in the field of regenerative medicine to enhance the clinical application of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). In this regard, various electrospun substrates with diverse physiochemical properties were synthesized utilizing various polymer precursors and surface treatments. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) cultured on these substrates were characterized by their gene and protein expression to determine the effects of the substrate physiochemical properties on the cells' self-renewal, i.e., proliferation and the maintenance of pluripotency. The results showed that surface chemistry significantly affected cell colony formation via governing the colony edge propagation. More importantly, when surface chemistry of the substrates was uniformly controlled by collagen conjugation, the stiffness of substrate was inversely related to the sphericity, a degree of three dimensionality in colony morphology. The differences in sphericity subsequently affected spontaneous differentiation of IPSCs during a long-term culture, implicating that the colony morphology is a deciding factor in the lineage commitment of PSCs. Overall, we show that the capability of controlling IPSC colony morphology by electrospun substrates provides a means to modulate IPSC self-renewal.
Department of Bioengineering, University of California-Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Maricela
M
Maldonado
Department of Bioengineering, University of California-Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Lauren Y
LY
Wong
Department of Bioengineering, University of California-Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Cristina
C
Echeverria
Department of Bioengineering, University of California-Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Gerardo
G
Ico
Department of Bioengineering, University of California-Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Karen
K
Low
Department of Bioengineering, University of California-Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Taylor
T
Fujimoto
Nanofiber Solutions LLC, 1275 Kinnear Rd., Columbus, OH 43212, USA.
Jed K
JK
Johnson
Department of Bioengineering, University of California-Riverside, CA 92521, USA. Electronic address: jnam@engr.ucr.edu.
Jin
J
Nam
D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D000066673:Cell Self Renewal; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D057026:Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D000071841:PAX6 Transcription Factor; D051761:Paired Box Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
D005136:Eye Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D000071841:PAX6 Transcription Factor; C000605730:PAX6 protein, human; D051761:Paired Box Transcription Factors; D012097:Repressor Proteins
Electrospun substrate; Mechanobiology; Pluripotent stem cells; Self-renewal; Stiffness