Embryonic Stem Cells Maintain an Undifferentiated State on Dendrimer-Immobilized Surface with d-Glucose Display

Abstract: In serial passaging cultures of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, we employed a dendrimer-immobilized substrate that displayed d-glucose as a terminal ligand. The d-glucose-displaying dendrimer (GLU/D) surface caused the ES cells to form loosely attached spherical colonies, while those on a gelatin-coated surface formed flatter colonies that were firmly attached to the surface. Despite the morphological similarities between the colonies on the GLU/D surface and aggregates on a conventional bacteriological dish, immunostaining and RT-PCR analyses revealed the maintenance of cells within the spherical colonies on the GLU/D surface in an undifferentiated state with very low expressions of primitive endoderm markers. On the bacteriological dish, however, the cells within the aggregates showed a different cellular state with partial differentiation into the primitive endoderm lineage, and the expression level increased gradually along with the number of passages. These results indicate that the GLU/D surface can be a potential tool for controlling the ES cell morphology and then govern their self-renewal and fate.