Control of neural stem cell differentiation on honeycomb films

Control of neural stem cell (NSC) differentiation is ongoing interest in neural tissue engineering. Formation of neural networks on various patterned substrates was reported in previous studies. In this study, we cultured NSCs derived from the cerebral cortex of embryonic day-14 mice on honeycomb (HC) films with highly regular pores prepared by casting a polymer solution of water-immiscible solvent under high humidity. The differentiation of NSCs was analyzed by immunostaining for Nestin and MAP2. The differentiation of NSC was controlled for the first time by manipulating the pore size on HC films. The highest suppression of NSC differentiation was observed on HC film with 3 μm pore specifically.