Poly(ethylene glycol)-grafted poly(propylene fumarate) networks and parabolic dependence of MC3T3 cell behavior on the network composition

We present a method to modify poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF), an injectable biomaterial for bone-tissue-engineering applications, by photo-crosslinking it with methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) monoacrylate (mPEGA) at various mPEGA compositions of 0–30%. The bulk properties such as thermal and rheological properties of uncrosslinked mPEGA/PPF blends and the mechanical properties of photo-crosslinked mPEGA/PPF blends were also investigated and correlated with surface characteristics to elaborate on the modulation of mouse MC3T3 cell adhesion, spreading, proliferation and differentiation through controlled physicochemical properties. Unlike PPF crosslinked with PEG dimethacrylate, mPEGA chains tethered on the surface of crosslinked PPF did not influence the swelling ratio in water while increased surface hydrophilicity greatly. Meanwhile, surface frictional coefficient and the capability of adsorbing proteins from cell culture medium decreased continuously with increasing the mPEGA composition in mPEGA/PPF networks. Demonstrating cell repulsive effect at the mPEGA compositions higher than 7%, the modified surfaces improved MC3T3 cell attachment, proliferation and differentiation, which reached maxima at the mPEGA composition of 5–7%. Besides revealing that mPEGA pendant chains could enhance cell responses by increasing hydrophilicity when their fraction on the hydrophobic surface was small, the present study also offered a new method of improving the wettability and performance of the scaffolds made from PPF for bone repair.