Stem cell responses to plasma surface modified electrospun polyurethane scaffolds

Human embryonic stem cells were investigated for their stem cell maintenance and proliferation capacity, and rodent neural stem cells were investigated for their migration properties and ability to differentiate into neurons, when cultured on different plasma-treated electrospun nanofibers. hESCs retained their multipotency as shown by the expression of Oct-4, and Argon-plasma treated, randomly oriented fibers induced the greatest proliferation. rNSCs preferentially migrated along the direction of the fiber, and were able to differentiate into neurons when cultured on all plasma-treated substrates.228