title: Substantial Differentiation of Human Neural Stem Cells Into Motor Neurons on a Biomimetic Polyurea.
abstract: To find the first restorative treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI), researchers have focused on stem cell therapies. However, one obstacle is the lack of an implantable cell scaffold that can support efficient motor neuron (MN) differentiation and proliferation. We aimed to overcome this through the use of an RGD functionalized novel biomimetic polyurea, optimized to encourage efficient differentiation of MNs. Images taken after 14-days showed increased differentiation (∼40%) of hNSCs into MNs as well as increased cell count on the biomimetic polymer compared to PDL-Laminin coating, indicating that the RGD-polyurea provides a favorable microenvironment for hNSC survival, having promising implications for future SCI therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of Colorado Denver, 12800 E. 19th Ave, Aurora, CO, 80045-2560, USA.
authors.forename: Donghwa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 12700 E. 19th Ave, Aurora, CO, 80045-2560, USA.
authors.forename: Young M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of Colorado Denver, 12800 E. 19th Ave, Aurora, CO, 80045-2560, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Laughter
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 12700 E. 19th Ave, Aurora, CO, 80045-2560, USA.
authors.forename: Curt R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Freed
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of Colorado Denver, 12800 E. 19th Ave, Aurora, CO, 80045-2560, USA. Daewon.Park@ucdenver.edu.
authors.forename: Daewon
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D040761:Biomimetic Materials; D006801:Humans; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D055495:Neurogenesis; D011108:Polymers; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; C045786:polyurea
keywords: biomaterials; biomimetic polymer; motor neuron; neural stem cells; spinal cord injury