Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6485233 | Biomaterials | 2016 | 9 Pages |
Abstract
N-cadherin is considered to be the key factor in directing cell-cell interactions during mesenchymal condensation, which is essential to osteogenesis. In this study, hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels are biofunctionalized with an N-cadherin mimetic peptide to mimic the pro-osteogenic niche in the endosteal space to promote the osteogenesis of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Results show that the conjugation of the N-cadherin peptide in the HA hydrogels enhances the expression of the osteogenic marker genes in the seeded hMSCs. Furthermore, the biofunctionalized HA hydrogels promote the alkaline phosphatase activity, type I collagen deposition, and matrix mineralization by the seeded hMSCs under both in vitro and in vivo condition. We postulate that the biofunctionalized hydrogels emulates the N-cadherin-mediated homotypic cell-cell adhesion among MSCs and the “orthotypic” interaction between the osteoblasts and MSCs. These findings demonstrate that the biofunctionalized HA hydrogels provide a supportive niche microenvironment for the osteogenesis of hMSCs.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Bioengineering
Authors
Meiling Zhu, Sien Lin, Yuxin Sun, Qian Feng, Gang Li, Liming Bian,