Can We Build Artificial Stem Cell Compartments?

[摘要] Animals carry stem cells throughout their entire life, fromembryogenesis to senescence. Their function during developmentand adulthood consists basically of forming and sustainingfunctional tissues while maintaining a small self-renewingpopulation. They reside in a complex three-dimensional environmentconsisting of other nearby cells extracellular matrix components,endogenous or exogenous soluble factors, and physical,structural, or mechanical properties of the tissues they inhabit.Can we artificially recreate tissue development such that stemcells can both self-renew and be instructed to mature properly?The main factors required to regulate the maintenance anddifferentiation of some types of stem cells are known. Inaddition, new bioengineered synthetic materials that mimicextracellular matrix components can be used as initialscaffolding for building stem cell microenvironments.

[学科分类] 基础医学