An integrated microfluidic culture device to regulate endothelial cell differentiation from embryonic stem cells

Abstract

We developed an integrated microfluidic culture device to regulate embryonic stem (ES) cell fate. The integrated microfluidic culture device consists of an air control channel and a fluidic channel with 4 x 4 micropillar arrays. We hypothesized that the microscale posts within the micropillar arrays would enable the control of uniform cell docking and shear stress profiles. We demonstrated that ES cells cultured for 6 days in the integrated microfluidic culture device differentiated into endothelial cells. Therefore, our integrated microfluidic culture device is a potentially powerful tool for directing ES cell fate.