Three-Dimensional Culture for Expansion and Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells

Although embryonic stem (ES) cells have the regenerative capability of producing any tissue in our body, the development of efficient methods to generate a large number of ES cells with high purity has still remained a technical challenge before they can be used routinely in clinical trials. In this chapter, we describe a simple procedure to establish an ES cell 3D culture system through alginate-poly-l -lysine-alginate (APA) microencapsulation. The APA microcapsule provides an environment that promotes better cell growth and differentiation without requiring feeder layers.