Engineering stem cell niches in bioreactors

Table 2 Microfluidics devices and microbioreactors in engineering stem cell niches

Microfluidic devices and microbioreactors	Stem cell type	Applications	Ref.
Gradient-generating microfluidic device	NSC	Proliferation and astrocyte differentiation	[91]
MEMS automated microfluidic device	AFSC	Adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation	[92]
3-D hydrogel incorporated microfluidics	NSC	3-D differentiation into neuronal and oligodendrocyte differentiation	[93]
Micro-grooved PDMS sheets with cyclic strain	MSC	MSC proliferation and differentiation	[94]
Microfluidic device with logarithmical flow rate	Mouse ESC	ESC adhesion and proliferation	[95]
A microfluidic chip which creates arbitrary culture media formulations	MSC	Proliferation, osteogenic	[96]
		differentiation and motility
A microscaffold cell chip with precisely controlled microenvironment	Retinal stem cells	Decrease apoptosis during the retinal differentiation	[98,99]
Microbioreactor array for 2-D and 3-D hydrogel cultures	Human ESC	Adjust flow rate and evaluate vascular differentiation	[100]
Microbioreactor arrays for drug screening	ESC, MSC	Incorporate 3D culture, biomaterials, etc. to screen drugs in a high-throughput manner	[103]
Compartmentalizing microfluidic devices	Cancer stem cells	Understanding of cell migration and cancer invasion	[104]
Microbioreactor array with 3-D fibrous matrix	Mouse ESC	High-through cell-based assay for drug screening	[14,87,102,106]
Microbioreactor array with full factorial design of growth factor combinations	Human ESC	Screening exogenous and paracrine factors in human ESC differentiation into mesoderm cells	[15]
Microfluidics with patterning and temporal analysis	PSC	Reveal paracrine/autocrine signaling for PSC self-renewal	[110]
Microbioreactor array with 3-D cell culture setting	EBs derived from human ESC or iPSC	PSC mesoderm differentiation, with controlled cytokine gradients.	[101]
Microfluidics with varying flow rates	PSC	Reveal paracrine/autocrine signaling during PSC self-renewal	[108,115]

NSC: Neural stem cells; AFSC: Amniotic fluid stem cells; ESCs: Embryonic stem cells; MSCs: Mesenchymal stem cells; PSC: Pluripotent stem cells; iPSC: Induced pluripotent stem cells; EBs: Embryoid bodies.