Biophysical cues involved in the stem cell niche for stemness maintenance

The characteristics of stem cells are self-renewal ability and differentiation potential. These properties are defined as stemness, offering them application in tissue repair and regeneration based on stem cells with great promise. However, stem cells undergo functional deterioration and gradually lose stemness with long-term expansion. Accumulating evidence implies that the regulation of stemness is primarily orchestrated by the niche, which comprises the connection between stem cells and niche cells, extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, and secreted factors. Increasingly, physical signals are being acknowledged as paramount regulators of cellular behavior, governing stem cell stemness, tissue development, and regeneration. This review outlines current approaches for stemness maintenance and the important biophysical cues involved in the stem niche. We first encompass the latest discoveries regarding the sources and transduction pathways of these biophysical cues. Subsequently, the specific biophysical factors for regulating stemness have been described. Moreover, we summarize existing challenges and prospect future research in this field.