Osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by magnetic nanoparticle composite scaffolds under a pulsed electromagnetic field

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of magnetic nanoparticle composite scaffold under a pulsed electromagnetic field on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), which was achieved by examining the biological behaviors of cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation on the surface of the scaffolds. This may provide some experimental evidence for the use of magnetic nanoparticles in medical application. The magnetic nanoparticle composite scaffolds were evaluated and characterized by the following indexes: the cell proliferation was detected by the CCK-8 method, the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was examined by a detection kit, and the expression of type I collagen and osteocalcin gene were evaluated by RT-PCR. The CCK-8 test showed that there was no significant difference in Group A (BMSCs-seeded magnetic scaffolds under the electromagnetic field), B (BMSCs-seeded magnetic scaffolds) and C (BMSCs cultured alone) (P > 0.05). The value for the ALP activity in Group A was higher than the other two groups. In addition, the RT-PCR results showed that the expression of type I collagen gene in Group A was enhanced (P < 0.05), suggesting that the magnetic nanoparticles combined with the pulsed electromagnetic field had a positive effect on the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. However, the expression of osteocalcin was not significantly different in three groups (P > 0.05). To conclude, magnetic nanoparticles may induce the osteogenic differentiation with the action of the pulsed electromagnetic field.