Behaviors of stem cells on carbon nanotube.
Regulating stem cell microenvironment is one of the essential elements in stem cell culture. Recently, carbon nanotube (CNT) has come into the spotlight as a biomaterial that retains unique properties. Based on its high chemical stability, elasticity, mechanical strength, and electrical conductivity, CNT shows great potential as an application for biomedical substrate. Also, properties of CNT could be further regulated by appropriate chemical modifications of CNT. Recent studies reported that modulating the cellular microenvironment through the use of CNT and chemically modified CNT as cell culture substrates can affect proliferation and differentiation of various types of stem cells. This review summarizes the unique biological effects of CNT on stem cells.
School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-744 South Korea.
Ju-Ro
JR
Lee
Interdisciplinary Program for Bioengineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-744 South Korea.
Seungmi
S
Ryu
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL USA.
Soojin
S
Kim
School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-744 South Korea.|Interdisciplinary Program for Bioengineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-744 South Korea.
Byung-Soo
BS
Kim
Carbon nanotube; Differentiation; Stem cell; Substrate