Engineering Embryonic Stem Cell Microenvironments for Tailored Cellular Differentiation

Abstract

The rapid progress of embryonic stem cell (ESCs) research offers great promise for drug discovery, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. However, a major limitation in translation of ESCs technology to pharmaceutical and clinical applications is how to induce their differentiation into tailored lineage commitment with satisfactory efficiency. Many studies indicate that this lineage commitment is precisely controlled by the ESC microenvironment in vivo. Engineering and biomaterial-based approaches to recreate a biomimetic cellular microenvironment provide valuable strategies for directing ESCs differentiation to specific lineages in vitro. In this review, we summarize and examine the recent advances in application of engineering and biomaterial-based approaches to control ESC differentiation. We focus on physical strategies (e.g., geometrical constraint, mechanical stimulation, extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness, and topography) and biochemical approaches (e.g., genetic engineering, soluble bioactive factors, coculture, and synthetic small molecules), and highlight the three-dimensional (3D) hydrogel-based microenvironment for directed ESC differentiation. Finally, future perspectives in ESCs engineering are provided for the subsequent advancement of this promising research direction.