Brain-stiffness-mimicking tilapia collagen gel promotes the induction of dorsal cortical neurons from human pluripotent stem cells.

ABSTRACT: The mechanical properties of the extracellular microenvironment, including its stiffness, play a crucial role in stem cell fate determination. Although previous studies have demonstrated that the developing brain exhibits spatiotemporal diversity in stiffness, it remains unclear how stiffness regulates stem cell fate towards specific neural lineages. Here, we established a culture substrate that reproduces the stiffness of brain tissue using tilapia collagen for in vitro reconstitution assays. By adding crosslinkers, we obtained gels that are similar in stiffness to living brain tissue (150-1500 Pa). We further examined the capability of the gels serving as a substrate for stem cell culture and the effect of stiffness on neural lineage differentiation using human iPS cells. Surprisingly, e

SUBMITTER: Iwashita M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6395773 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature