Stem Cells Go Soft: Pliant Substrate Surfaces Enhance Motor Neuron Differentiation

Derivation of motor neurons from human pluripotent stem cells is inefficient and requires complex culture protocols. Recently in Nature Materials, Sun et al. (2014) report that differentiating human pluripotent stem cells on soft substrates increases the efficiency of mature motor neuron differentiation by altering cytoskeletal mechanotransduction through the Hippo/YAP/Smad pathway.