Gelatin- and starch-based hydrogels. Part B: In vitro mesenchymal stem cell behavior on the hydrogels

• Published in: Carbohydrate polymers 2017-04, Vol.161, p.295-305
• Main Authors: Van Nieuwenhove, Ine, Salamon, Achim, Adam, Stefanie, Dubruel, Peter, Van Vlierberghe, Sandra, Peters, Kirsten
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adipogenic differentiation; Animals; Cell Differentiation - drug effects; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; Cells, Cultured; Gelatin; Gelatin - chemistry; Hydrogel; Hydrogels - chemistry; Hydrogels - pharmacology; Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC); Mesenchymal Stromal Cells - cytology; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells - drug effects; Osteogenesis - drug effects; Osteogenic differentiation; Proliferation; Starch; Starch - chemistry; Tissue engineering; Tissue Engineering - methods; Viability
• ISSN: 0144-8617; 1879-1344
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.01.010

•Evaluation of the in vitro response of MSC to hydrogels with varying chemical composition (i.e. starch/gelatin ratio, methacrylation degree).•The gelatin- and starch-based hydrogels exhibited no adverse effect on viability of the MSC cultured on them.•On the least crosslinked and thus most flexible hydrogels, the highest degree of adipogenic differentiation of MSC was found.•Osteogenic differentiation of MSC was the strongest on the most rigid, starch-blended hydrogels.•Gelatin-based hydrogels can be optimized regarding maximum promotion of either adipogenic or osteogenic MSC differentiation in vitro. Tissue regeneration often occurs only to a limited extent. By providing a three-dimensional matrix serving as a surrogate extracellular matrix that promotes adult stem cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation, scaffold-guided tissue regeneration aims at overcoming this limitation. In this study, we applied hydrogels made from crosslinkable gelatin, the hydrolyzed form of collagen, and functionalized starch which were characterized in depth and optimized as described in Van Nieuwenhove et al., 2016. “Gelatin- and Starch-Based Hydrogels. Part A: Hydrogel Development, Characterization and Coating”, Carbohydrate Polymers 152:129–39. Collagen is the main structural protein in animal connective tissue and the most abundant protein in mammals. Starch is a carbohydrate consisting of a mixture of amylose and amylopectin. Hydrogels were developed with varying chemical composition (ratio of starch to gelatin applied) and different degrees of methacrylation of the applied gelatin phase. The hydrogels used exhibited no adverse effect on viability of the stem cells cultured on them. Moreover, initial cell adhesion did not differ significantly between them, while the strongest proliferation was observed on the hydrogel with the highest degree of cross-linking. On the least crosslinked and thus most flexible hydrogels, the highest degree of adipogenic differentiation was found, while osteogenic differentiation was the strongest on the most rigid, starch-blended hydrogels. Hydrogel coating with extracellular matrix compounds aggrecan or fibronectin prior to cell seeding exhibited no significant effects. Thus, gelatin-based hydrogels can be optimized regarding maximum promotion of either adipogenic or osteogenic stem cell differentiation in vitro, which makes them promising candidates for in vivo evaluation in clinical studies aiming at either soft or hard tissue rege