McKee, ChristinaChaudhry, G. Rasul2019-01-162019-01-162017-07-27Mckee, C., & Chaudhry, G. (2017). Advances and challenges in stem cell culture. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 159, 62–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2017.07.051http://hdl.handle.net/10323/6491Stem cells (SCs) hold great promise for cell therapy, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine as well as pharmaceutical and biotechnological applications. They have the capacity to self-renew and the ability to differentiate into specialized cell types depending upon their source of isolation. However, use of SCs for clinical applications requires a high quality and quantity of cells. This necessitates large-scale expansion of SCs followed by efficient and homogeneous differentiation into functional derivatives. Traditional methods for maintenance and expansion of cells rely on two-dimensional (2-D) culturing techniques using plastic culture plates and xenogenic media. These methods provide limited expansion and cells tend to lose clonal and differentiation capacity upon long-term passaging. Recently, new approaches for the expansion of SCs have emphasized three-dimensional (3-D) cell growth to mimic the in vivo environment. This review provides a comprehensive compendium of recent advancements in culturing SCs using 2-D and 3-D techniques involving spheroids, biomaterials, and bioreactors. In addition, potential challenges to achieve billion-fold expansion of cells are discussed.en-US3-D cultureSelf-renewalBiomimickingLarge-scale expansionSelf-assembling scaffoldHydrogelBioreactorArticle