Name: stencil micropatterning of human pluripotent stem cells for probing spatial organization of differentiation fates
Uploaded: 2016-06-17T14:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Stencil Micropatterning of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells for Probing Spatial Organization of Differentiation Fates at JoVE.com

This work is supported by NUS Start up grant (R-397-000-192-133) and ETPL Gap Fund (R-397-000-198-592). G.S. is a NUS Research scholar. Authors would like to thank Dr. Jiangwa Xing for her technical support on cell micropatterning.

NOTE: This protocol describes the fabrication of PDMS stencil with 1,000 &#181;m patterns by laser-cutting and micropatterning of the hESC line, H9 using the PDMS stencil.
1. Design and Fabrication of PDMS Stencil for Micropatterning
<ol>
	<li>Design the stenciling sheet with through-holes of the desired geometry and size (e.g., 1,000 &#181;m circles) and the stencil gasket using computer-aided design software10.</li>
	<li>Laser-cut the stenciling sheet and gasket on 120-...

<ol>
	<li>Graf, T., Stadtfeld, M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Heterogeneity+of+embryonic+and+adult+stem+cells.">Heterogeneity of embryonic and adult stem cells.</a> Cell Stem Cell. 3 (5), 480-483 (2008).</li><li>Nishikawa, S., Goldstein, R. A., Nierras, C. R. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+promise+of+human+induced+pluripotent+stem+cells+for+research+and+therapy.">The promise of human induced pluripotent stem cells for research and therapy.</a> Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 9 (9), 725-729 (2008).</li><li>Guilak, F., Cohen, D. M., Estes, B. T., Gimble, J. M., Liedtke, W., Chen, C. 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D., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Substrate+stiffness+affects+early+differentiation+events+in+embryonic+stem+cells.">Substrate stiffness affects early differentiation events in embryonic stem cells.</a> Eur Cell Mater. 18, 1-13 (2009).</li><li>Carter, S. B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Haptotactic+islands:+a+method+of+confining+single+cells+to+study+individual+cell+reactions+and+clone+formation.">Haptotactic islands: a method of confining single cells to study individual cell reactions and clone formation.</a> Exp Cell Res. 48 (1), 189-193 (1967).</li><li>Jimbo, Y., Robinson, H. 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Fabrication of micropatterning stencils
Stencil micropatterning provides an ideal method to generate hPSC micropatterns for investigating niche-mediated differentiation patterning. The key advantage of stencil patterning over other micropatterning techniques, such as microcontact printing and photopatterning, is that it does not require surface modification and can be implemented on conventional TCPS substrates. Therefore, optimized culture media and ECM coatings for ...

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), are widely exploited in regenerative medicine as well as experimental modeling of normal and diseased organogenesis because of their differentiation potential into cell lineages of all three germ layers1,2. The differentiation fates of hPSCs are highly sensitive to local environmental factors that can modulate autocrine or paracrine signaling1 as well as mechanotransduction processes mediated by physical cues3-5. Cell micropatterning encompasses a set of techniques that have been developed to spatially organize the geometry and location of a cell population as a mean to control the local cellular microenvironment, such as cell-cell interactions6 and cell-matrix interactions3. In the context of hPSCs, cell micropatterning has been employed to gain significant insights into how niche-dependent autocrine signaling modulates hESC pluripotency-differentiation decisions7 and organization into early embryonic differentiation patterns6. 2D and 3D micropatterned hPSCs have been used to control the colony size of multicellular patterns, which in turn influenced differentiation decisions into the three germ layers8,9. We have employed multicellular hPSC micropatterns to modulate the extent of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions within a hPSC colony to probe how integrin-E-cadherin crosstalk can give rise to cell fate heterogeneity10. The demonstrations from the above reports open new avenues towards the application of multicellular micropatterns of hPSCs as experimental models for drug toxicity screening for developmental diseases11, to study the effect of growth factors and hormones during tissue or organ development, and to unravel the formation of tissue patterns.
A myriad of cell micropatterning techniques have been developed as reviewed by Falconnet et. al.12 but only a handful, such as micro-contact printing7,8,13, microwell culture14,15, photopatterning6 and microstencils16 have been successfully implemented with hPSCs. The challenge with micropatterning hPSCs lies in their vulnerability and a stringent requirement of specific extracellular matrices (ECM) and growth conditions for cell attachment and survival. For 2D hPSC patterns, micro-contact printing is one of the most common methods to generate hPSC micropatterns on tissue culture and glass substrates13. The method can be used to pattern common ECM used in hPSC culture, including laminin and basement membrane matrices, such as Matrigel. However, it typically requires a two-step coating process aided by Poly-D-Lysine, and needs specific inert atmospheric and humidity conditions to make stable ECM micropatterns for hPSCs to attach on6,13. The foremost consideration of each micropatterning method is whether the surface modification regime can generate hPSC-adhesive ECM patterns at the desired geometrical resolution while minimizing unspecific cell attachment to the surrounding areas.
Here, we report the use of stencil micropatterning as a simple method to generate hPSC micropatterns without additional surface modification steps prior to the generation of adhesive ECM patterns for hPSCs to attach on. The cell stencil comprises of a thin membrane, e.g., polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sheet, with micron to millimeter size through-holes sealed onto a cell culture substrate to physically contain ECM coatings and subsequently seeded hPSCs. As stencil patterning works by physically restraining the location where hPSC can access and attach directly to the underlying ECM coated substrate, this method is compatible with various substrates that can support hPSC cultures. The only requirement is that the choice of stencil material can form a reversible seal with the substrate. These substrates include conventional tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS)17, ligand conjugated substrates18, as well as elastomeric substrates with tunable stiffness (e.g., PDMS)19. This method also allows coating of different ECM, such as vitronectin (or VTN protein), laminin and basement membrane matrices (e.g., Matrigel and Geltrax) to allow for proper attachment and differentiation of hPSCs. Therefore, we can transfer optimized ECM-substrate configurations for a specific hPSC line to stencil micropatterning for optimal cell-matrix adhesion, survival and differentiation. Recently, a similar method has also been reported to direct hepatic differentiation by micropatterning hESCs using poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) micro-stencil arrays16.
Cell stencils can be fabricated from different materials, including metals20,21, poly(p-xylylene) polymers22,23, PMMA16 and most commonly, PDMS24-28. Silicon and poly(p-xylylene) polymers stencils require direct etching of the through-holes with specialized equipment20-23, which limits their accessibility to biological users. PDMS stencils can be fabricated by different methods depending on the feature size required, which typically ranges from 3 &#181;m to 2,000 &#181;m11,26-29. If small features are desired, thin stenciling sheets can be produced by press molding PDMS pre-polymer on a microfabricated silicon template containing reliefs of the micropatterns28. For features &#62; 1,000 &#181;m, a CO2 laser cutter provides an easy and low cost method to directly cut the patterns on a pre-casted PDMS sheet during stencil fabrication. The recyclability of PDMS stencils also makes them cost-effective to conduct a series of experiments with sufficient consistency.
Here, we present the detailed methodology for the fabrication of a PDMS stencil with 1,000 &#181;m features by laser cutting and the generation of hESC micropatterns. These hESC micropatterns were used to modulate the extent of integrin and E-cadherin mediated adhesions within a cohesive hESC colony so as to investigate how spatial polarization of cell adhesion resulted in cell fate heterogeneity10.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="948">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">&#160;2 mm thick PDMS sheet</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">Specialty Silicone Products Inc., USA</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">SSPM823-.005</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Used to form reservoir for stencil</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">120-150 &#956;m thick PDMS sheet</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">Specialty Silicone Products Inc., USA</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">SSPM823-.040</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Used to form stencil&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">60 mm petri dish</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">&#160;Nunc Nunclon Delta</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">150326</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Substrate for micropatterning</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Accutase</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">Accutase, Merck Millipore, Singapore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">SCR005</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Enzyme to break H9 Cells into single cells</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Activin&#160;&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">R&#38;D Systems, Singapore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">338-AC-010</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Growth factor for H9 differentiation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">BMP4&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">R&#38;D Systems, Singapore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">338-BP-010</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Growth factor for H9 differentiation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Plasma system&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">&#160;Femto Science, Korea</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">CUTE-MP</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">For plasma oxidation of stencil</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Dispase</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">StemCell&#8482; Technologies, Singapore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">7923</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Enzyme used to weaken the cell-ECM adhesion during passaging</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">DMEM/F12</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">GIBCO, USA</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">11330032</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Basal medium for H9 cells</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">FGF2</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">&#160;R&#38;D Systems, Singapore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">233&#8211;FB&#8211;025</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Growth factor for H9 differentiation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">H9 Cell line</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">WiCell Research Institute, Inc., USA</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">WA09</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Human embryonic stem cells</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">hESC-qualified basement membrane matrix</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">Matrigel, BD Biosciences, Singapore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">354277</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Extra-cellular matrix coating to support growth of H9 cells</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Inverted microscope</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">Leica Microsystems, Singapore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">DMi1</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">For capturing bright-field images</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Laser cutter</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">Epilog Helix 24 Laser System</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Used to generate through holes in PDMS sheet</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">mTeSR&#8482;1 medium&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">StemCell&#8482; Technologies, Singapore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">5850</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Maintainence medium for H9 cells</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">PDMS&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">SYLGARD&#174; 184, Dow Corning Co., USA</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">3097358-1004</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Used for sticking the PDMS stencil and reservior</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">ROCKi Y27632</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">Calbiochem, Merck Millipore, Singapore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">688000</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Maintains H9 cells as single cells&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">STEMdiff&#8482; APEL&#8482; medium&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">StemCell&#8482; Technologies, Singapore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">5210</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Differentiation medium for H9 cells</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Polyethylene terephthalate film</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">SureMark Singapore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">SQ-6633</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Used to form stencil&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Cell culture compatible non-ionic surfactant</td>
			<td style="width:191px;">Pluronic acid F-127, Sigma, Singapore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">P2443</td>
			<td style="width:423px;">Passivating reagent to repel cell adhesion in non-micropatterned substrates</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

stencil micropatterning of human pluripotent stem cells for probing spatial organization of differentiation fates

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, have the intrinsic ability to differentiate into all three germ layers. This makes them an attractive cell source for regenerative medicine and experimental modeling of normal and diseased organogenesis. However, the differentiation of hPSCs in vitro is heterogeneous and spatially disordered. Cell micropatterning technologies potentially offer the means to spatially control stem cell microenvironments and organize the resultant differentiation fates. Micropatterning hPSCs needs to take into account the stringent requirements for hPSC survival and maintenance. Here, we describe stencil micropatterning as a method that is highly compatible with hPSCs. hPSC micropatterns are specified by the geometries of the cell stencil through-holes, which physically confine the locations where hPSCs can access and attach to the underlying extracellular matrix-coated substrate. Due to this mode of operation, there is greater flexibility to use substrates that can adequately support hPSCs as compared to other cell micropatterning methods. We also highlight critical steps for the successful generation of hPSC micropatterns. As an example, we demonstrate that stencil micropatterning of hPSCs can be used to modulate spatial polarization of cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesions, which in turn determines mesoendoderm differentiation patterns. This simple and robust method to micropattern hPSCs widens the prospects of establishing experimental models to investigate tissue organization and patterning during early embryonic development.

In this paper, we describe the fabrication of a cell stencil by using a laser cutter to generate 1,000 &#181;m features. The stencil was composed of 2 parts: a thin stenciling sheet (approximately 100-200 &#181;m thick) containing the micropattern through-holes, and a PDMS gasket to contain the ECM coating solution or cell suspension. Here, 127 &#181;m and 2 mm thick commercially available PDMS sheets were used as the stenciling sheet and gasket respectively. Other methods for preparing P...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Stencil Micropatterning of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells for Probing Spatial Organization of Differentiation Fates at JoVE.com

Stencil Micropatterning of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells for Probing Spatial Organization of Differentiation Fates

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) have the intrinsic ability to differentiate and self-organize into distinct tissue patterns; although this requires the presentation of spatial environmental gradients. We present stencil micropatterning as a simple and robust method to generate biochemical and mechanical gradients for controlling hPSC differentiation patterns.

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, have the intrinsic ability to differentiate into ...

Research

JoVE Journal

Developmental Biology

Large-Scale Production of Cardiomyocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Using a Highly Reproducible Small Molecule-Based Differentiation Protocol

Maximizing the benefit of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) for research, disease modeling, pharmaceutical and clinical applications requires robust ...

Aggregate Size Optimization in Microwells for Suspension-based Cardiac Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Cardiac differentiation of human pluripotent stems cells (hPSCs) is typically carried out in suspension cell aggregates.  Conventional aggregate formation ...

Rapid Neuronal Differentiation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Measuring Network Activity on Micro-electrode Arrays

Neurons derived from human induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (hiPSCs) provide a promising new tool for studying neurological disorders. In the past decade, ...

Directed Differentiation of Primitive and Definitive Hematopoietic Progenitors from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

One of the major goals for regenerative medicine is the generation and maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) derived from human pluripotent stem ...

Efficient Differentiation of Pluripotent Stem Cells to NKX6-1+ Pancreatic Progenitors

Efficient Differentiation of Pluripotent Stem Cells to NKX6-1+ Pancreatic Progenitors

Pluripotent stem cells have the ability to self renew and differentiate to multiple lineages, making them an attractive source for the generation of ...

In Vitro Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells into Trophoblastic Cells

In Vitro Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells into Trophoblastic Cells

The placenta is the first organ to develop during embryogenesis and is required for the survival of the developing embryo. The placenta is comprised of ...

Rapid, Directed Differentiation of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells from Human Embryonic or Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

We describe a robust method to direct the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE). The purpose of providing ...

Efficient Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells into Liver Cells

The liver detoxifies harmful substances, secretes vital proteins, and executes key metabolic activities, thus sustaining life. Consequently, liver ...

In Vitro Generation of Somite Derivatives from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

In response to signals such as WNTs, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), and sonic hedgehog (SHH) secreted from surrounding tissues, somites (SMs) give ...

Mapping the Emergent Spatial Organization of Mammalian Cells using Micropatterns and Quantitative Imaging

A fundamental goal in biology is to understand how patterns emerge during development. Several groups have shown that patterning can be achieved in vitro ...