Stem cells have attracted significant attention due to their regenerative capabilities and their potential for the treatment of disease. Consequently, significant research effort has focused on the development of protein- and polypeptide-based materials as stem cell substrates and scaffolds. Here, we explore the ability of reflectin, a cephalopod structural protein, to support the growth of murine neural stem/progenitor cells (mNSPCs). We observe that the binding, growth, and differentiation of mNSPCs on reflectin films is comparable to that on more established protein-based materials. Moreover, we find that heparin selectively inhibits the adhesion of mNSPCs on reflectin, affording spatial control of cell growth and leading to a >30-fold change in cell density on patterned substrates. The described findings highlight the potential utility of reflectin as a stem cell culture material.

中文翻译：

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反射蛋白膜上小鼠神经干细胞的生长和空间控制

干细胞由于其再生能力和治疗疾病的潜力而引起了极大的关注。因此，大量的研究工作集中在开发基于蛋白质和多肽的材料作为干细胞基质和支架。在这里，我们探索了反射蛋白（一种头足类结构蛋白）支持小鼠神经干/祖细胞（mNSPC）生长的能力。我们观察到 mNSPC 在反射蛋白膜上的结合、生长和分化与在更成熟的基于蛋白质的材料上的结合、生长和分化相当。此外，我们发现肝素选择性抑制 mNSPC 在反射蛋白上的粘附，提供细胞生长的空间控制，并导致图案化基底上的细胞密度发生 > 30 倍的变化。所描述的发现强调了反射蛋白作为干细胞培养材料的潜在用途。