Microengineered synthetic cellular microenvironment for stem cells

Stem cells possess the ability of self‐renewal and differentiation into specific cell types. Therefore, stem cells have great potentials in fundamental biology studies and clinical applications. The most urgent desire for stem cell research is to generate appropriate artificial stem cell culture sys...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology 2012-07, Vol.4 (4), p.414-427
Main Authors: Sun, Yubing, Weng, Shinuo, Fu, Jianping
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biology
Biomechanics
Cell culture
Cell Culture Techniques - methods
Cell self-renewal
Cellular Microenvironment
Complexity
Elastomers
Extracellular Matrix - metabolism
Humans
Microfluidics - methods
Nanoengineering
Nanotechnology
Stem cells
Stem Cells - cytology
Stem Cells - metabolism
Surgery
Surgical equipment
Surgical implants
Therapeutic applications
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Summary:Stem cells possess the ability of self‐renewal and differentiation into specific cell types. Therefore, stem cells have great potentials in fundamental biology studies and clinical applications. The most urgent desire for stem cell research is to generate appropriate artificial stem cell culture system, which can mimic the dynamic complexity and precise regulation of the in vivo biochemical and biomechanical signals, to regulate and direct stem cell behaviors. Precise control and regulation of the biochemical and biomechanical stimuli to stem cells have been successfully achieved using emerging micro/nanoengineering techniques. This review provides insights into how these micro/nanoengineering approaches, particularly microcontact printing and elastomeric micropost array, are applied to create dynamic and complex environment for stem cells culture. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2012, 4:414–427. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1175 This article is categorized under: Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology Implantable Materials and Surgical Technologies > Nanotechnology in Tissue Repair and Replacement
ISSN:1939-5116
1939-0041
DOI:10.1002/wnan.1175