2015 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
幹細胞の機能性を制御するためのマイクロ・ナノ複合パターン材料の創出
| Project/Area Number |
15J01781
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| Research Institution | University of Tsukuba |
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Principal Investigator |
王 新竜 筑波大学, 数理物質科学研究科, 特別研究員(DC2)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2015-04-24 – 2017-03-31
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| Keywords | stem cell / mirco-/nano-pattern / microenvironment / regenerative medicine / biomaterials |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The objective of my research is to develop novel micro-/nano-structured biointerface for stem cell function manipulation. Base on the research plan, I firstly prepared different micropatterns to control the spreading area, geometry and aspect ratio of single stem cells and disclosed the influences of these physical cues on the maintenance of stemness of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) at single cell level. The results indicated that small spreading area and low aspect ratio would enhance the maintenance of stemness of MSCs. This study will inspire the design of materials for maintaining the multipotency of stem cells which would enhance their applicability for clinical use and will help to reveal the process under stem cell quiescence in vivo. This research was published in Journal of Mateirlas Chemistry B as a front cover paper.
In ths second study, I intended to prepare the hybrid micro-/nano-patterns to manipulate stem cell functions. Up to now, the hybrid patterns combining the nanoparticle deposition and UV photolithography were successfully prepared. The geometry of the micro-pattern and the nanoparticle were both controlled using this method. The patterns showed good capability to control cell morphogenesis.
Besides these two researches, I also did some other studies to explore the interactions between cells and their microenvironment using micropatterned surfaces. All these works have been submitted to international famous scientific journals.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
My recent progress enabled the preparation of hybrid micro-/nano-patterns combing the nanoparticle deposition and UV photolithography micropatterning technology. Although the prepared hybrid micro-/nano-patterns showed good capability to control cell geometry, the nanoparticle arrangement on the hybrid patterns were not well controlled. The arrangement of nanopatterns was reported to affect many cell behaviors such as cell adhesion, assembly of cytoskeleton, cell differentiation and so on. Therefore, the preparation methods still needs to be improved to provide the hybrid micro-/nano-patterns with highly ordered nanoarrangement that cannot be fulfilled by using current preparation method.
Meanwhile, how the cell functions especially the differentiation of stem cells will be regulated by the hybrid micro-/nano-patterns remains unexplored. Since the hybrid micro-/nano-patterns are good materials to mimic the in vivo microenvironment, understanding the interactions between the cells and the hybrid patterns would make great contributions to the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Therefore, I apply to continue my research to improve the methods for preparation of the hybrid micro-/nano-patterns and investigate the influence of such hybrid patterns on stem cell differentiation and other cell behaviors.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
In my future work, I will try to control the nanoarray using contact printing methods instead of nanoparticle deposition. Currently, there are several methods for preparation of micro- and nano-patterned surfaces including contact printing, laser based lithography, atomic force microscope (AFM) based lithography, colloid lithography, block-copolymer phase separation and so on. Compared with the other methods, contact printing method can provide changeable micro- and nano-features with high ordering and low cost. Meanwhile, the contact printing enables direct patterning on polymer surfaces that promised the control of micro- and nanoarray at same time. At first, the mold with various hybrid micro-/nano- features (geometry, size, etc.) can be prepared using normal lithography method. Then, these micro-/nano-features can be transferred to the hydrogel to fabricate the hybrid biointerface. The potential difficulties will be the transfer of the micro-/nano-features from the mold to the substrate surface. Conventional printing on a solid substrate may cause the distortion of the patterns. In order to improve this problem, the mold will be directly printed into the monomer solution followed by monomer crosslinking to prepare the hydrogel without distortion. After preparation, the hybrid patterns will be used for manipulation of stem cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation.
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