Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Jan 26, 2015; 7(1): 37-50
Published online Jan 26, 2015. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v7.i1.37
Control of stem cell fate by engineering their micro and nanoenvironment
Michelle F Griffin, Peter E Butler, Alexander M Seifalian, Deepak M Kalaskar
Michelle F Griffin, Peter E Butler, Alexander M Seifalian, Deepak M Kalaskar, UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, Centre for Nanotechnology and Regenerative Medicine, University College London, London NW3 2PF, United Kingdom
Peter E Butler, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust Hospital, London NW3 2PF, United Kingdom
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the manuscript in terms of writing the paper.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Deepak M Kalaskar, UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, Centre for Nanotechnology and Regenerative Medicine, University College London, 9th Floor, Royal Free Campus, Rowland Hill Street, London NW3 2PF, United Kingdom. d.kalaskar@ucl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44-20-77940500 Fax: +44-20-74726444
Received: July 25, 2014
Peer-review started: July 26, 2014
First decision: August 14, 2014
Revised: September 13, 2014
Accepted: September 18, 2014
Article in press: December 16, 2014
Published online: January 26, 2015
Processing time: 172 Days and 14.2 Hours
Abstract

Stem cells are capable of long-term self-renewal and differentiation into specialised cell types, making them an ideal candidate for a cell source for regenerative medicine. The control of stem cell fate has become a major area of interest in the field of regenerative medicine and therapeutic intervention. Conventional methods of chemically inducing stem cells into specific lineages is being challenged by the advances in biomaterial technology, with evidence highlighting that material properties are capable of driving stem cell fate. Materials are being designed to mimic the clues stem cells receive in their in vivo stem cell niche including topographical and chemical instructions. Nanotopographical clues that mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) in vivo have shown to regulate stem cell differentiation. The delivery of ECM components on biomaterials in the form of short peptides sequences has also proved successful in directing stem cell lineage. Growth factors responsible for controlling stem cell fate in vivo have also been delivered via biomaterials to provide clues to determine stem cell differentiation. An alternative approach to guide stem cells fate is to provide genetic clues including delivering DNA plasmids and small interfering RNAs via scaffolds. This review, aims to provide an overview of the topographical, chemical and molecular clues that biomaterials can provide to guide stem cell fate. The promising features and challenges of such approaches will be highlighted, to provide directions for future advancements in this exciting area of stem cell translation for regenerative medicine.

Keywords: Biomaterials; Scaffold; Stem cells; Surface topography; Tissue engineering

Core tip: Stem cells receive instructions from their niche environment, which guide their survival and phenotype. Stem cells receive physical and biochemical clues from their extracellular matrix where they reside in vivo. This paper will discuss the utilization of biomaterial surface topography and elasticity and delivery of chemical and genetic clues via scaffold materials to mimic the extracellular matrix to guide stem cell fate. The understanding of the parameters that guide stem cell differentiation is of great interest for the tissue-engineering field.