Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA.
Ann Biomed Eng. 2020 Mar;48(3):1071-1089. doi: 10.1007/s10439-019-02337-7. Epub 2019 Sep 4.
Stem cell regenerative potential owing to the capacity to self-renew as well as differentiate into other cell types is a promising avenue in regenerative medicine. Stem cell niche not only provides physical scaffolding but also possess instructional capacity as it provides a milieu of biophysical and biochemical cues. Extracellular matrix (ECM) has been identified as a major dictator of stem cell lineage, thus understanding the structure of in vivo ECM pertaining to specific tissue differentiation will aid in devising in vitro strategies to improve the differentiation efficiency. In this review, we summarize details about the native architecture, composition and mechanical properties of in vivo ECM of the early embryonic stages and the later adult stages. Native ECM from adult tissues categorized on their origin from respective germ layers are discussed while engineering techniques employed to facilitate differentiation of stem cells into particular lineages are noted. Overall, we emphasize that in vitro strategies need to integrate tissue specific ECM biophysical cues for developing accurate artificial environments for optimizing stem cell differentiation.
干细胞的再生潜能源于其自我更新以及分化为其他细胞类型的能力，这是再生医学中一个很有前途的途径。干细胞龛不仅提供物理支架，还具有指导能力，因为它提供了一个生物物理和生化线索的环境。细胞外基质（ECM）已被确定为干细胞谱系的主要决定因素，因此了解与特定组织分化相关的体内 ECM 结构将有助于设计体外策略来提高分化效率。在这篇综述中，我们总结了有关早期胚胎阶段和后期成年阶段体内 ECM 的天然结构、组成和机械性能的详细信息。讨论了源自各自胚层的成年组织的天然 ECM，同时还注意到了用于促进干细胞分化为特定谱系的工程技术。总的来说，我们强调体外策略需要整合组织特异性 ECM 生物物理线索，以开发用于优化干细胞分化的准确人工环境。
