Fig 6. Proposed pathway connecting N-cadherin, Rho/ROCK, β-catenin signaling in neural differentiation.

The neurospheres were heterogeneous; harboring undifferentiated ESC/iPSCs might be due to irregular distribution of soluble factors. To achieve better homogeneity, these spheres were dissociated and expanded on N-cadherin-coated surface. The down-regulation of β-catenin and Rho/ROCK pathways inhibited dissociation-induced apoptosis and enhanced neural conversion. N-cadherin mediated homophilic interaction is also implicated in the enrichment of neural population by eliminating undifferentiated ESC/iPSCs under serum/growth factor-free differentiation condition.