Compositions useful for propagation of pluripotent stem cells are provided. The compositions comprise a polysaccharide hydrogel linked to a peptide fragment of the extracellular domain of epithelial cadherin. Methods of making the composition, and culturing pluripotent stem cells also are provided.

Compositions, devices and methods are described for improving adhesion, attachment, and/or differentiation of cells in a microfluidic device or chip. In one embodiment, one or more ECM proteins are covalently coupled to the surface of a microchannel of a microfluidic device. The microfluidic devices can be stored or used immediately for culture and/or support of living cells such as mammalian cells, and/or for simulating a function of a tissue, e.g., a liver tissue, muscle tissue, etc. Extended adhesion and viability with sustained function over time is observed.

A method of preparing PNVCL block polymers as the substrate for thermo-sensitive cultureware is provided. A hydrophobic polymer of poly n-butyl mathacrylate (PBMA) is obtained by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) with typical haloalkane as an initiator. Further a thermo-sensitive block copolymer of poly n-vinyl caprolactam (PNVCL) is obtained by polymerization of N-vinyl caprolactam (NVCL) monomers using the hydrophobic PBMA polymer as a macroinitiator.

The present disclosure provides a method of fabricating curvature-defined (C-D) or shape-defined (S-D) concave and convex polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surfaces and a method of fabricating C-D or S-D convex and concave gel surfaces for use in cell and tissue culturing and in other surface and interface applications, and provides a method of using C-D or S-D convex and concave surfaces with varying curvatures to direct cell attachment, spreading, and migration.

A cell culture substrate including a fibrous web in which fibers are integrated, and a cell culture coating layer comprising a coating film connecting at least some fibers from among fibers positioned on one surface of the fibrous web, wherein the cell culture coating layer is realized through a fusion protein for cell culture in which a functional peptide is bound to a mussel adhesive protein. Thus, the substrate can be stored at room temperature for a long period of time, i.e., several years, despite containing protein-like substances that aid in cell culture, and thus exhibits very high storage stability. At the same time, the activity of substances that aid in cell culture is maintained at the same level or is reduced only minimally, thus enabling cell culture at an initially designed level.

A method for producing a medium composition for suspension culture of an adherent cell, including the following steps: (i) a step of making an extracellular matrix carried on a nanofiber composed of water-insoluble polysaccharides, (ii) a step of adding the extracellular matrix-carrying nanofiber obtained in step (i) to a medium is provided by the present invention.

The present invention provides a cell culture substrate including a polymer having a lower critical solution temperature, the substrate including one or more inorganic materials selected from a water-swellable clay mineral and silica and further including an adhesive matrix in the substrate, in which the adhesive matrix is an extracellular matrix and/or an adhesive synthetic matrix. Furthermore, the invention is to provide a cell culture substrate in which the extracellular matrix is at least one selected from laminin, fibronectin, vitronectin, cadherin, and fragments thereof, and/or the adhesive synthetic matrix is poly[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium hydroxide] or an oligopeptide-supporting polymer.

A new type of biomaterial that can be generated from pollen, methods for its production, the various uses thereof in, for example, biological, medicinal, cosmetic, nutritional and printing applications and the materials/devices that comprise this new material are provided. The biomaterial comprises microgels of sporoderm polymer complex microcapsules (SPC-MCs), produced by deproteinizing the pollen from eudicot plants, in particular of genus Baccharis, Helianthus or Camellia, by contacting it with an aqueous base solution at elevated temperatures for up to 10 hours to obtain porous SPC-MCs, and hydrolytically degrading the SPC-MCs by contacting it with an aqueous base solution for periods up to 60 days to obtain microgels of SPC-MCs.

Systems and methods for tissue engineered synthetic support structures, such as grafts and patches are provided. The systems and methods can be used to make tissue engineered planar sheathes or meshes that can be fashioned into substantially planar or non-planar 3D tissue/organ structures adaptable to structure and organs within a human or mammalian body. The systems and methods can use bioink deposited on a material having specified properties and matured under specified conditions to create the tissue engineered planar sheathes or meshes having biomechanical and biological properties tailored to a particular tissue.

Composites based on a polymer and a mixture of proteins derived from a MaSp (major ampullate spidroin) protein are provides. Further, methods for preparation of same, and method of use of the composites are provided.