1. Date of download: 10/13/2017
Copyright © ASME. All rights reserved.
From: Engineering Embryonic Stem Cell Microenvironments for Tailored Cellular Differentiation
J. Nanotechnol. Eng. Med. 2016;6(4): doi: /
Figure Legend:
A schematic illustration of engineering approaches for tailored ESC differentiation. Top: modulation of ESC niche on 2D substrates by diverse biophysical and biochemical cues. Bottom: ESC niche modulation within 3D hydrogel, synthetic scaffolds, and decellularized scaffolds. (Reproduced with permission from Xu et al. [9]. Copyright 2013 by Springer Science+Business Media).

2. Date of download: 10/13/2017
Copyright © ASME. All rights reserved.
From: Engineering Embryonic Stem Cell Microenvironments for Tailored Cellular Differentiation
J. Nanotechnol. Eng. Med. 2016;6(4): doi: /
Figure Legend:
Biophysical regulation of ESC fate on 2D substrate. (a) Geometrical constraint: microcontact printing (top), resulting in hESCs colonies with upregulation of endoderm marker as colonies size decreased (bottom) [5,7]; (b) cyclic strain as mechanical stimulation (top) and vascular differentiation of mESC (bottom) [15,16]; (c) matrix stiffness of the polymeric substrate: cell morphology regulated by substrate stiffness (top) and preferable osteogenic differentiation of mESCs on stiffer substrate [17,18]; (d) nanoscale structures fabricated by electrospun nanofibers (left), which was used to induce hESC neuronal differentiation (right) [19,20]. (Reproduced with permission from Xu et al. [9]. Copyright 2013 by Springer Science+Business Media).

3. Date of download: 10/13/2017
Copyright © ASME. All rights reserved.
From: Engineering Embryonic Stem Cell Microenvironments for Tailored Cellular Differentiation
J. Nanotechnol. Eng. Med. 2016;6(4): doi: /
Figure Legend:
Biochemical strategies for ESC regulation on 2D substrate. (a) Protocol (top) and dynamic morphogenesis (bottom) during ESC-derived hepatic differentiation [46]. SOX17, HEX, and HNF4α transfected ESCs; (b) left: suppression of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway with soluble and substrate-immobilized IGFBP4 [47]. Right: improved cardiac differentiation of ESC according to MF20 (anti-α myosin heavy chain) staining; (c) left: micropatterned coculture of mESC and stellate cells for induction to hepatic lineage [48]. Right: stronger intracellular alpha fetoprotein (hepatocyte marker) of mESC expression in cocultures as compared to monoculture, suggesting improved differentiation efficiency. (Reproduced with permission from Xu et al. [9]. Copyright 2013 by Springer Science+Business Media).

4. Date of download: 10/13/2017
Copyright © ASME. All rights reserved.
From: Engineering Embryonic Stem Cell Microenvironments for Tailored Cellular Differentiation
J. Nanotechnol. Eng. Med. 2016;6(4): doi: /
Figure Legend:
ESC differentiation regulated by 3D culture configuration. (a) Images (left) and live/dead staining (right) of hESCs cultured in 3D alginate microcapsules [63]. (Middle) Suppression of NANOG (pluripotent marker) and upregulation of SOX17 and FOXA2 (hepatocyte markers) on day 10; (b) left: scanning electronic microscopy images (pseudocolored) of hESCs within electrospun PU nanofibers (5000X magnification) [40]. Middle: distribution of pore diameter of PU scaffolds peaks at 5–6 and 1 μm. Right: hESC-derived neurons after 47 days cultured indicated by upregulated MAP2ab (mature neural marker); (c) Left: decellularization and reseeding for cardiac tissue engineering [64]. Right: immunostaining detection of CD31 (endothelial marker, green) on the reseeded decellularized heart sections with hESC-derived cells. (Reproduced with permission from Xu et al. [9]. Copyright 2013 by Springer Science+Business Media).