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Stem-cell differentiation

Anchoring cell-fate cues

Nature Materials volume 11, pages 568–569 (2012)Cite this article

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The spreading and differentiation of stem cells depends on the stiffness of the extracellular matrix. Now, experiments on human epidermal and mesenchymal stem cells cultured on substrates with covalently attached collagen fibres show that the cells sense and respond to the anchoring of the collagen fibres to the substrate.

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Figure 1: Stem cells pull on collagen fibres (red) attached to a matrix (green) through integrin receptors (grey) to make fate decisions7.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ovijit Chaudhuri and David J. Mooney are at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA,

    Ovijit Chaudhuri & David J. Mooney

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  1. Ovijit Chaudhuri
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  2. David J. Mooney
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Correspondence to David J. Mooney.

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Chaudhuri, O., Mooney, D. Anchoring cell-fate cues. Nature Mater 11, 568–569 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3366

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