Achievement

IGERT fellow Aaron Carlson of the Moghe and Kohn labs has been focusing on the issue of the ability to expand undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in 3-D scaffolds using defined, humanized conditions. Aaron was able to 1) identify that synthetic protein-free scaffolds consisting of PDL-treated electrospun polymer fibers could support hESC adhesion, colony formation, stemness, and in situ directed neural differentiation; 2) identify that only specific configurations of 3-D polymers could support these behaviors in the absence of protein matrices; and 3) identify that hESCs in exogenous protein matrix-free scaffolds deposit their own extracellular matrix, including key ECM protein laminin. A manuscript is currently submitted for publication.