Extracellular matrix microarrays to study inductive signaling for endoderm specification

The authors implemented an extracellular matrix (ECM) array platform that facilitates the study of 741 distinct combinations of 38 different ECM components in a systematic, unbiased and high throughput manner. Seeded definitive endoderm (DE) cells onto the arrays and evaluated cell adhesion and hepatic and pancreatic differentiation. When comparing the ECM conditions that best supported hepatic and pancreatic differentiation, we noted that two combinations (fibronectin + merosin (laminin α2) and laminin (α1) + superfibronectin) are among the most robust domains for both hepatic and pancreatic differentiation.