Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and GAG mimetics regulate the behavior of stem cell differentiation

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are linear sulfated polysaccharides that exist in most mammalian cells. By undergoing conjugation with various proteins, GAGs play important roles in a variety of bioactivities, including promoting stem cell differentiation. However, they have their own intrinsic disadvantages that limit their further applications for cell therapy and tissue engineering. Therefore, more and more GAG-mimetic materials have been studied as natural GAG analogs for emerging applications. This review explains the mechanism of how GAGs regulate stem cell differentiation and elaborates on the current progress of the applications of GAG-based materials on regulating stem cell differentiation. The types and applications of GAG-mimetic materials on regulating stem cell differentiation are introduced as well. Finally, the challenges and perspectives for GAGs and their mimetics in regulating stem cell differentiation are discussed.