Controlled growth and differentiation of MSCs on grooved films assembled from monodisperse biological nanofibers with genetically tunable surface chemistries

The search for a cell-supporting scaffold with controlled topography and surface chemistry is a constant topic within tissue engineering. Here we have employed M13 phages, which are genetically modifiable biological nanofibers (∼880 nm long and ∼6.6 nm wide) non-toxic to human beings, to form films for supporting the growth of mesencymal stem cells (MSCs). Films were built from nearly parallel phage bundles separated by grooves. The bundles can guide the elongation and alignment of MSCs along themselves. Phage with peptides displayed on the surface exhibited different control over the fine morphologies and differentiation of the MSCs. When an osteogenic peptide was displayed on the surface of phage, the proliferation and differentiation of MSCs into osteoblasts were significantly accelerated. The use of the grooved phage films allows us to control the proliferation and differentiation of MSCs by simply controlling the concentrations of phages as well as the peptides displayed on the surface of the phages. This work will advance our understanding on the interaction between stem cells and proteins.