- Kautz, Rylan;
- Phan, Long;
- Arulmoli, Janahan;
- Chatterjee, Atrouli;
- Kerr, Justin P;
- Naeim, Mahan;
- Long, James;
- Allevato, Alex;
- Leal-Cruz, Jessica E;
- Le, LeAnn;
- Derakhshan, Parsa;
- Tombola, Francesco;
- Flanagan, Lisa A;
- Gorodetsky, Alon A
Stem cells have attracted significant attention due to their regenerative capabilities and their potential for the treatment of disease. Consequently, significant research effort has focused on the development of protein- and polypeptide-based materials as stem cell substrates and scaffolds. Here, we explore the ability of reflectin, a cephalopod structural protein, to support the growth of murine neural stem/progenitor cells (mNSPCs). We observe that the binding, growth, and differentiation of mNSPCs on reflectin films is comparable to that on more established protein-based materials. Moreover, we find that heparin selectively inhibits the adhesion of mNSPCs on reflectin, affording spatial control of cell growth and leading to a >30-fold change in cell density on patterned substrates. The described findings highlight the potential utility of reflectin as a stem cell culture material.