In my first project, the novel chemically defined, artificial 3D microniche was engineered with degradable polyethyleneglycol-co-polycaprolactone and RGDfk-functionalized dendritic polyglycerol hydrogel precursors by coordinately controlling over physical properties and bioactivity to keep specific interactions with cellular systems. In this way, the behavior of iPSC was indeed completely maintained by the artificial microniches and they also kept a high level of pluripotency expression and excellent viability without any pathogen and immunogenic transfer risks, which indicates great promise for therapeutic applications. Additionally, the fabrication process of the microniches was performed under microfluidic conditions and could supply microniche scaffold with huge efficiency. Therefore, it shows great promise in realizing iPSCs’ 3D culturing and reliable expansion in chemically defined synthetic microniches on a large scale. In my second project, I described an approach to establish fully defined, thermally responsive, iPSCs’ 3D artificial niches based on dPG and poly (N-isopropylacrylamide)-co-polyethylene glycol polymers via physical-chemical cogelation strategy. Benefiting from the cooperation of the SPAAC reaction and the physical phase transition, the cogelation system could be adjusted with optimal stiffness and mechanical strength and also supported iPSCs’ survival well, maintained self-renewal, and preserved high pluripotency. After being cultured, the cells can easily controllably release from the niches just by adjusting the temperature. Overall, the high maneuverability and feasibility of this establishment of artificial niche engineering shows great promise in iPSCs’ 3D culture for regenerative medicine and clinical therapies.
