Glycans in Embryonic Stem Cells

Growth and Spatial Control of Murine Neural Stem Cells on Reflectin Films

“…While evaluating the adhesion and proliferation of mNSPCs on RfA1 and LAM, we tested and considered the effects of a variety of different media components commonly used for stem cell culture experiments (Table S1). We were surprised to discover that heparin, a glycosaminoglycan known to modulate signaling pathways via protein binding and thus to affect stem cell growth and differentiation, − appeared to substantially decrease adhesion on RfA1 but not on LAM. We therefore plated mNSPCs on these two materials and directly compared the cells’ growth after a period of 36 h, in both the presence and absence of heparin (Figure and Table S2).…”

“…To gain further insight into the origin of heparin’s influence on mNSPC growth, we assessed whether other glycosaminoglycans might likewise inhibit mNSPC adhesion on RfA1. For this purpose, we used chondroitin sulfate A because this macromolecule is known to affect neural stem cell proliferation via binding to growth factors and is chemically similar to heparin but on average has three times fewer sulfate groups per disaccharide unit. ,− We plated mNSPCs on RfA1 and LAM and compared the cells’ growth after a period of 36 h, in both the presence and absence of chondroitin sulfate A (Figure and Table S2). For RfA1 films in proliferation medium supplemented with ∼100 nM (2 μg/mL) chondroitin sulfate A, we found that the mNSPCs adhered and grew to densities of 56 ± 6 cells/mm 2 , displaying elongated morphologies with surface areas of 830 ± 32 μm 2 (Figure C,G).…”

“…The fact that heparin selectively prevents mNSPC binding on reflectin underscores our findings’ potential utility within the context of neural stem cell growth. Indeed, heparin is already used both in stem cell media and in scaffolds to influence stem cell fate, − so the combination of this glycosaminoglycan and reflectin could find applications in stem cell culture protocols. For instance, given that heparin’s inhibitory effect appears to be primarily electrostatic in nature (that is, due to charge neutralization), it may be possible to develop heparin-derivative-based techniques for the spatially resolved detachment of differentiated neural lineages from reflectin-based substrates.…”