The effects of interactive mechanical and biochemical niche signaling on osteogenic differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells using combinatorial hydrogels.

Stem cells reside in a multi-factorial environment containing biochemical and mechanical signals. Changing biochemical signals in most scaffolds often leads to simultaneous changes in mechanical properties, which makes it difficult to elucidate the complex interplay between niche cues. Combinatorial studies on cell-material interactions have emerged as a tool to facilitate analyses of stem cell responses to various niche cues, but most studies to date have been performed on two-dimensional environments.