Engineering Niches for Embryonic and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Embryonic stem (ES) cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have significant potential for use in regenerative medicine because of the ability of these cells to self-renew and differentiate into various types of cells. The fate of ES/iPS cells is dynamically affected by the surrounding environment. Therefore, great efforts have been made to engineer biomimetic niches for ES/iPS cell culture and investigate the effects of environmental stimuli on the fate of ES/iPS cells, as well as to regulate the function of ES/iPS cells for biomedical applications. In this chapter, we focus on the studies describing engineering niches for the maintenance and differentiation of ES/iPS cells.