Effects of diameters and spacing of silicon micro pillars on the differentiation of neural stem cells / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Different structures of matrix models, such as grating, holes and pil ars make different effects on the differentiation of neural stem cel s. OBJECTIVE:To explore the effects of the diameter and spacing, known as physical signals of micro pil ars on neural stem cel differentiation. METHODS:Micro pil ars with different diameters and spacing, both of which had four dimensions of 2.5, 5, 10 and 20μm, were fabricated on silicon substrates by photolithographic method. Purified primary neural stem cel s were incubated on the each micro pil ar for 7 days in vitro. Then the differentiation of neural stem cel s into neuron-like cel s was observed using immunofluorescence staining and quantitative real-time PCR. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:When the diameters of the micro pil ars were constant and the spacing of micro pil ars varied in the range of 2.5-10μm, the differentiation rate of neural stem cel s increased with the spacing increase. When the spacing was invariable and the diameters changed in the range of 2.5-20μm, the differentiation rate of neural stem cel s declined with the diameter increase. Especial y, the micro pil ars with 2.5μm diameter and 10μm spacing significantly promoted the differentiation of neural stem cel s into neuron-like cel s. These results show that specific micro pil ars with smal diameters and large spacing facilitate the differentiation of neural stem cel s, thus providing guidance for developing tissue-engineered scaffolds.