Stem cell culture using cell-derived substrates

There have been great efforts to develop cell culture systems to regulate stem cell functions. Development of cell culture substrates is one of the important approaches for stem cell culture because substrates influence stem cell functions such as attachment, proliferation, self-renewal, and induction of differentiation. Stem cells are surrounded by their specific microenvironments in vivo, composed of cells, cytokines, and an extracellular matrix (ECM), which may dynamically change and affect cellular activities accordingly. To mimic such microenvironments, cell culture substrates can be prepared by coating bioactive proteins such as ECM proteins and signaling molecules as ligands for cell surface receptors. Compared with protein-coated substrates, cell- and cell-formed ECM-derived substrates have shown great progress and attracted significant attention as functional and prospective biomaterials for stem cell culture and regenerative medicine. In this review, we summarize the latest progress of these new substrates derived from cells and cell-formed ECMs.