The effects of electrospun TSF nanofiber diameter and alignment on neuronal differentiation of human embryonic stem cells

Although transplantation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs)‐derived neural precursors (NPs) has been demonstrated with some success for nervous repair in small animal model, control of the survival, and directional differentiation of these cells is still challenging. Meanwhile, the notion that using suitable scaffolding materials to control the growth and differentiation of grafted hESC‐derived NPs raises the hope for better clinical nervous repair. In this study, we cultured hESC‐derived NPs on Tussah silk fibroin (TSF)‐scaffold of different diameter (i.e., 400 and 800 nm) and orientation (i.e., random and aligned) to analyze the effect of fiber diameter and alignment on the cell viability, neuronal differentiation, and neurite outgrowth of hESC‐derived NPs. The results show that TSF‐scaffold supports the survival, migration, and differentiation of hESC‐derived NPs. Aligned TSF‐scaffold significantly promotes the neuronal differentiation and neurite outgrowth of hESC‐derived neurons compared with random TSF‐scaffold. Moreover, on aligned 400 nm fibers cell viability, neuronal differentiation and neurite outgrowth are greater than that on aligned 800 nm fibers. Together, these results demonstrate that aligned 400 nm TSF‐scaffold is more suitable for the development of hESC‐derived NPs, which shed light on optimization of the therapeutic potential of hESCs to be employed for neural regeneration. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A, 2012.