Biomaterial Control of Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Abstract

Human pluripotent stem (hPS) cells, including induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells and embryonic stem (hES) cells, have the ability to induce differentiation into several cell types derived from the three germ layers, such as insulin-secreting cells, dopamine-secreting cells and retinal pigment epithelium for the treatment of diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and age-related macular (AMD) degeneration, respectively. On the other hand, it is challenging to control hPS cell differentiation into specific cell lineages because of their varied differentiation ability. An excellent strategy may be to mimic the niche of stem cells for the differentiation of hPS cells into targeted lineages of the cells using appropriate polymers or natural materials for hPS cell cultivation. This chapter describes various methods for inducing hPS cells cultivated on polymeric or natural materials and debates the optimal strategy and polymeric or natural materials for hPS cell induction into desired lineages of the cells. The recent trends in differentiation methods avoid EB (clustered cells, embryoid body) generation because EBs include several kinds of differentiated cells. The combination of optimal induction methods and cell cultivation materials for the induction of hES and hiPS cells into desired lineages of the cells would generate a large amount of very pure good manufacturing practice (GMP)-grade differentiated cells for future use in regeneration therapy and drug screening processes.