Perestrelo, Ana RubinaMouffouk, FouziCosta, Ana M. Rosa daBelo, José A.2016-01-062016-01-062016J Tissue Eng Regen Med (in press)1932-6254AUT: AMC01695; JBE01557;http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/7387Conventionally, embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are cultured on gelatin or over a mitotically inactivated monolayer of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFsi). Considering the lack of versatile, non-animal-derived and inexpensive materials for that purpose, we aimed to find a biomaterial able to support ESC growth in a pluripotent state that avoids the need for laborious and time-consuming MEFsi culture in parallel with mouse ESC (mESC) culture. Undifferentiated mESCs were cultured in a new nanofibre material designed for ESC culture, which is based on the self-assembly of a triblock co-polymer, poly(ethyleneglycol-β-trimethylsilyl methacrylate-β-methacrylic acid), conjugated with the peptide glycine-arginine-glycine-aspartate-serine, to evaluate its potential application in ESC research. The morphology, proliferation, viability, pluripotency and differentiation potential of mESCs were assessed. Compared to conventional stem cell culture methodologies, the nanofibres promoted a higher increase in mESCs number, enhanced pluripotency and were able to support differentiation after long-term culture. This newly developed synthetic system allows the elimination of animal-derived matrices and provides an economic method of ESC culture, made of a complex network of nanofibres in a scale similar to native extracellular matrices, where the functional properties of the cells can be observed and manipulated.engEmbryonic stem cellsPolymeric nanofibresPluripotencyEmbryonic stem cell cultureGrowth supportGelatin substitutejournal articlehttp://dx.doi.org/ 10.1002/term.1838