Screening and optimization of potential injection vehicles for storage of retinal pigment epithelial stem cell before transplantation.

Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells are highly specialized neural cells that have several functions essential for vision. Progressive deterioration of RPE cells in elderly individuals can result in visual impairment and ultimately the blinding disease age-related macular degeneration. Subretinal transplantation of stem cell-derived RPE cell suspensions is being explored as a strategy to recover the damaged retina and improve vision.

Polarized, Cobblestone, Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cell Maturation on a Synthetic PEG Matrix.

Cell attachment is essential for the growth and polarization of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. Currently, surface coatings derived from biological proteins are used as the gold standard for cell culture. However, downstream processing and purification of these biological products can be cumbersome and expensive.

Enhanced stem cell pluripotency in surface-modified electrospun fibrous matrices.

A previously screened "hit chemistry" (N-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl] methacrylamide) that supports strong attachment and long-term self-renewal of ES cells is selected and grafted to poly(ether sulfone) (PES) fibrous matrices through plasma-induced graft polymerization. The 3D modified fibers exhibit higher cell proliferation and greater expression of pluripotency markers of mouse ES cells than 2D membranes. It is the first demonstration of scaling up an optimal synthetic surface chemistry in 2D using a high throughput synthesis, screening, and selection method to 3D that strongly influences pluripotent stem cell growth.

High-throughput screening of substrate chemistry for embryonic stem cell attachment, expansion, and maintaining pluripotency.

Appropriate surface attachment is essential for growing embryonic stem (ES) cells in an undifferentiated state. It is challenging to identify the optimal surface chemistry of the substrata for ES cell attachment and maintenance. Using a rapid, high-throughput polymerization and screening platform with a comprehensive library of 66 monomer-grafted membrane surfaces, the optimal substrate, N-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl] methacrylamide (DMAPMA) has been identified to support strong attachment, high expansion capacity, and long-term self-renewal of ES cells (up to 7 passages).