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World J Stem Cells. Oct 26, 2013; 5(4): 124-135
Published online Oct 26, 2013. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v5.i4.124
Published online Oct 26, 2013. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v5.i4.124
Engineering stem cell niches in bioreactors
Meimei Liu, Ning Liu, Ru Zang, Shang-Tian Yang, William G Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, United States
Yan Li, Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Florida State University, FL 32310, United States
Author contributions: Liu M and Liu N prepared the original draft; Zang R contributed in writing and editing some sections in the manuscript; Li Y reviewed and revised the original draft; Yang ST conceived the idea, revised and finalized the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Shang-Tian Yang, PhD, Professor, William G Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio State University, 140 west 19th Ave, Columbus, OH 43210, United States. yang.15@osu.edu
Telephone: +1-614-2926611 Fax: +1-614-2923769
Received: March 15, 2013
Revised: June 5, 2013
Accepted: July 4, 2013
Published online: October 26, 2013
Processing time: 231 Days and 3.1 Hours
Revised: June 5, 2013
Accepted: July 4, 2013
Published online: October 26, 2013
Processing time: 231 Days and 3.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Stem cells are promising cell sources for cell therapy, tissue engineering, drug discovery and disease modeling due to their ability of self-renewal and immense capability of lineage-specific differentiation. Bioreactor systems with engineered stem cell microenvironments, called “niches”, play an important role in deriving functional cell populations from stem cells. Some important factors and their effects on stem cell engineering in bioreactors are reviewed in this paper. The understanding of bioreactor regulation of stem cell niches is of great interest in developing novel biomedicines.