Marzena Zychowicz
Polish Academy of Sciences
Poland
Title: Reciprocal interactions between iPS-derived neural cell-seeded modified collagen scaffolds and nerve tissue
Biography
Biography: Marzena Zychowicz
Abstract
Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are promising candidates as patient specific cell sources for transplantation or for modeling of diseases. By combining the human iPS-derived neural cells seeded on 3-D collagen scaffolds with dissociated or organotypic neural tissue we are attempting to create a biomimetic microenvironment for studying mutual interactions. To create the microstructured 3D niche, we have used type-I collagen scaffolds. Since collagen scaffolds can exhibit poor mechanical properties and rapid degradation in vivo, depending of cross linking , we have focused on modification of collagen physicochemical properties with improved mechanical and thermal stability without loss of its bioactivity. The human iPS cells, cultured in feeder free conditions, express markers of pluripotency (Oct, Sox2, Nanog), while after neural commitment and differentiation the cells exhibit nestin, GFAP, PDGFRα, β-tubulin III, Map-2, Dcx, GalC. The differentiated population of cells was seeded onto collagen scaffolds and co-cultured with rat organotypic spinal cord (OSC) slices or dissociated dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. The collagen scaffold alone promoted neurite outgrowth from dissociated DRG neurons and when seeded with iPS-derived cells supported migration of cells from the OSC, however no migration of IPS-derived cells from the scaffold to the OSC could be detected. Such a biomimetic environment could be applied in regenerative medicine for testing directed migration from the nerve tissue into the seeded collagen scaffold.