A Synthetic Bed for Growing Out Stem Cells
May 31, 2016 | Terry Sharrer
In some cases of regenerating tissue from stem cells, scientists grow out the stem cells on a bed of mouse fibroblasts. While this living bed supports new differentiated tissue, it can also contaminate it with the mouse cells. To improve on this method, a lab at Brown University made a mold of the fibroblast bed, seeking to reproduce its stiffness and bumpiness, which for reasons not yet fully understood, are requirements for success. With the mold then filled with a synthetic material, the human stem cells were cultured and differentiated into endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm layers. MORE
Image Credit: Hoffman-Kim, et. al., Brown University and ScienceDaily.com