Effective elastin-like recombinamers coating on poly(vinylidene) fluoride membranes for mesenchymal stem cell culture

Abstract

Bone's inherent piezoelectricity is a key factor in regulating bone growth and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) fate towards the osteogenic lineage. The piezoelectric polymer poly(vinylidene) fluoride (PVDF) was thus used to manufacture electroactive membranes by means of non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS), producing porous membranes with approximately 90 % of phase for MSCs culture. The combination of the porous surface and PVDF hydrophobicity hinders cell adhesion and requires a coating to improve cell culture conditions. A layer-by-layer (LbL) method was used to deposit elastin-like recombinamers (ELRs) containing RGD sequences 2 applying click cross-linking chemistry. ELRs potential was confirmed by comparing traditional fibronectin adsorption with ELRs LbL on PVDF electroactive membranes. Porcine bone marrow MSCs preferred ELRs-coated surfaces, which enhanced initial cell adhesion and improved proliferation after 7 days. These findings lead to new possibilities for regenerative therapies in the area of bone tissue engineering, offering the advantages of MSC commitment towards the osteogenic lineage by applying electro-mechanical stimulation on electroactive substrates.

Layer-by-layer assembly methods and their biomedical applications

“…For example, cell adhesion is promoted by Review Biomaterials Science the use of materials that are known to have adhesive properties. Arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) [74][75][76] and catechol groups, 77,78 either acting as an assembly component or as a partial structure of the polymers, have been used to support cell and protein adhesion due to the enriched interactions between surfaces and cells.…”

Osteogenic activity of bone: Novel approach of polyvinylidene fluoride films, marrow blood supply, and ultrasound stimulation

“…6,7,14 Despite its potential, there is limited research addressing the effect of electrical stimulation produced by the piezoelectric response of the material to mechanical stimuli like vibration, compression, and stretching 15 ; and these type of stimuli are commonly applied during cell culturing via bioreactors. 16,17 Another approach has been implemented to mechanically stimulate tissues by using the reverse piezoelectric effect, which involves the use of low frequency alternating current; it was demonstrated that new bone formation was induced in vivo as a result of mechanical stimulation and gene expression of osteoblasts in culture and metabolic activity were increased. 6 Furthermore, other in vivo study by using mechanical stimulation achieves bone growth.…”