Microfluidic‐Nanofiber Hybrid Array for Screening of Cellular Microenvironments |
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| Authors: | Ken‐ichiro Kamei Yasumasa Mashimo Momoko Yoshioka Yumie Tokunaga Christopher Fockenberg Shiho Terada Yoshie Koyama Minako Nakajima Teiko Shibata‐Seki Li Liu Toshihiro Akaike Eiry Kobatake Siew‐Eng How Motonari Uesugi Yong Chen |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Institute for Integrated Cell‐Material Sciences (WPI‐iCeMS), Kyoto University, Yoshida‐Ushinomiya‐cho, Sakyo‐ku, Kyoto, Japan;2. Department of Environmental Chemistry and Engineering, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan;3. Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan;4. Biomaterials Center for Regenerative Medical Engineering, Foundation for Advancement of International Science, Kasuga, Tsukuba‐shi, Ibaraki, Japan;5. Faculty of Science and Natural Resources, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia;6. Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto, Japan;7. Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS‐ENS‐UPMC UMR 8640, Paris, France |
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| Abstract: | Cellular microenvironments are generally sophisticated, but crucial for regulating the functions of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Despite tremendous effort in this field, the correlation between the environmental factors—especially the extracellular matrix and soluble cell factors—and the desired cellular functions remains largely unknown because of the lack of appropriate tools to recapitulate in vivo conditions and/or simultaneously evaluate the interplay of different environment factors. Here, a combinatorial platform is developed with integrated microfluidic channels and nanofibers, associated with a method of high‐content single‐cell analysis, to study the effects of environmental factors on stem cell phenotype. Particular attention is paid to the dependence of hPSC short‐term self‐renewal on the density and composition of extracellular matrices and initial cell seeding densities. Thus, this combinatorial approach provides insights into the underlying chemical and physical mechanisms that govern stem cell fate decisions. |
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| Keywords: | cellular microenvironments embryonic stem cells microfluidics nanofibers single‐cell profiling |
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