A synthetic xeno-free extracellular matrix surrogate supports robust human induced pluripotent stem cell maintenance and multilineage differentiation

Animal-derived surface coatings present the gold standard in stem cell culture. However, they come with major drawbacks such as lot-to-lot inconsistency and an ethically problematic production. Approaches to develop synthetic coating alternatives have largely failed to recapitulate biological functions essential to PSC-self renewal and differentiation. In this study, we have investigated the suitability of a fully synthetic, chemically defined extracellular matrix-mimicking coating named BIOINSTRUCT ^TM for hiPSC culture. BIOINSTRUCT ^TM was employed during maintenance culture of IMR90-4 cells, as well as directed differentiation of HIHCNi008-A, ACTN2-GFP, and UKKI-011-A cells. BIOINSTRUCT ^TM preserved hiPSC characteristics over the experimental period of 10 passages similar to Matrigel ^TM . Spontaneous differentiation resulted in the formation of ectodermal, mesodermal and endodermal derivatives, confirming the retention of pluripotency. Directed differentiation on BIOINSTRUCT ^TM enabled the generation of neuronal, cardiac and pancreatic endocrine cells. Altogether, our data underscore BIOINSTRUCT ^TM as a promising alternative to animal-derived extracellular matrix coatings.