Hyaluronic acid hydrogel for controlled self-renewal and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells

Control of self-renewal and differentiation of human ES cells (hESCs) remains a challenge. This is largely due to the use of culture systems that involve poorly defined animal products and do not mimic the normal developmental milieu. Routine protocols involve the propagation of hESCs on mouse fibroblast or human feeder layers, enzymatic cell removal, and spontaneous differentiation in cultures of embryoid bodies, and each of these steps involves significant variability of culture conditions. We report that a completely synthetic hydrogel matrix can support (i) long-term self-renewal of hESCs in the presence of conditioned medium from mouse embryonic fibroblast feeder layers, and (ii) direct cell…