Regulation and Directing Stem Cell Fate by Tissue Engineering Functional Microenvironments: Scaffold Physical and Chemical Cues

Figure 4

The stiffness affecting the fate of stem cell in vivo, adopted figure from Butcher et al. [98]; the brain is softer than bone, and stem cells are more likely to differentiate into neural differentiation on a soft cell matrix. By contrast, osteogenic differentiation is more likely to occur on scaffolds, which are harder and have material properties similar to those of newly formed bones.