Recent progress in stem cell differentiation directed by material and mechanical cues

Stem cells play essential roles in tissue regeneration in vivo via specific lineage differentiation induced by environmental factors. In the past, biochemical signals were the focus of induced stem cell differentiation. As reported by Engler et al (2006 Cell 126 677–89), biophysical signal mediated stem cell differentiation could also serve as an important inducer. With the advancement of material science, it becomes a possible strategy to generate active biophysical signals for directing stem cell fate through specially designed material microstructures. In the past five years, significant progress has been made in this field, and these designed biophysical signals include material elasticity/rigidity, micropatterned structure, extracellular matrix (ECM) coated materials, material transmitted extracellular mechanical force etc. A large number of investigations involved material directed differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells, neural stem/progenitor cells, adipose derived stem cells, hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, embryonic stem cells and other cells. Hydrogel based materials were commonly used to create varied mechanical properties via modifying the ratio of different components, crosslinking levels, matrix concentration and conjugation with other components. Among them, polyacrylamide (PAM) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) hydrogels remained the major types of material. Specially designed micropatterning was not only able to create a unique topographical surface to control cell shape, alignment, cell–cell and cell–matrix contact for basic stem cell biology study, but also could be integrated with 3D bioprinting to generate micropattered 3D structure and thus to induce stem cell based tissue regeneration. ECM coating on a specific topographical structure was capable of inducing even more specific and potent stem cell differentiation along with soluble factors and mechanical force. The article overviews the progress of the past five years in this particular field.