Department of Endocrine Neoplasia and Hormonal Disorders, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA,
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2014;811:255-75. doi: 10.1007/978-94-017-8739-0_13.
Because of their ability to self-renew and differentiate into many cell types, stem cells offer the potential to be used for tissue regeneration and engineering. Much progress has recently been made in our understanding of the biology of stem cells and our ability to manipulate their proliferation and differentiation to obtain functional tissues. Similarly, nanomaterials have been recently developed that will accelerate discovery of mechanisms driving stem cell fate and their utilization in medicine. Nanoparticles have been developed that allow the labeling and tracking of stem cells and their differentiated phenotype within an organism. Nanosurfaces are engineered that mimic the extracellular matrix to which stem cells adhere and migrate. Scaffolds made of functionalized nanofibers can now be used to grow stem cells and regenerate damaged tissues and organs. However, the small scale of nanomaterials induces changes in their chemical and physical properties that might modify their interactions with cells and tissues, and render them toxic to stem cells. Therefore a thorough understanding of stem cell-nanomaterial interactions is still necessary not only to accelerate the success of medical treatments but also to ensure the safety of the tools provided by these novel technologies.
由于其自我更新和分化为多种细胞类型的能力，干细胞具有用于组织再生和工程的潜力。最近，我们对干细胞生物学及其操纵其增殖和分化以获得功能性组织的能力有了更多的了解。同样，最近开发的纳米材料将加速发现驱动干细胞命运的机制，并将其用于医学。已经开发出允许标记和跟踪干细胞及其在生物体中的分化表型的纳米颗粒。纳米表面被设计成模仿干细胞附着和迁移的细胞外基质。现在可以使用功能化纳米纤维制成的支架来培养干细胞并再生受损的组织和器官。然而，纳米材料的小尺寸会引起其化学和物理性质的变化，这可能会改变它们与细胞和组织的相互作用，并使它们对干细胞有毒。因此，彻底了解干细胞-纳米材料的相互作用不仅对于加速医学治疗的成功至关重要，而且对于确保这些新技术提供的工具的安全性也是必要的。
