LAUSR

Neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) have a potential to treat various neurological diseases, such as Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease and Spinal Cord Injury. However, the limitation of NSPCs sources and the difficulty to maintain their stemness or to differentiate them into specific therapeutic cells are the main hurdles for clinical research and application. Thus, for obtaining a therapeutically relevant number of NSPCs in vitro, it is important to understand factors regulating their behaviors and to establish a protocol for stable NSPCs proliferation and differentiation. Coating materials for cell culture, such as Matrigel, laminin, collagen and other coating materials can significantly affect NSPCs characteristics. This paper provides a review of coating materials for NSPCs culturing in both 2-dimensions and 3-dimensions, and their functions in NSPCs proliferation and differentiation, and presents a useful guide to select coating materials for researchers.