Wettability of nanofibrous membrane regulating stem cell differentiation

Abstract

In this work, I investigated the influence of different surfaces on stem cell proliferation and osteogenetic differentiation. Surface properties of biomaterials are important factors that influence cell fate such as cell adhesion, viability, proliferation and differentiation. Herein, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were cultured on composite electrospun nanofibrous membranes with varied surface wettability for designed periods and cell morphologies, proliferation and viability were characterized via analysis methods such as Infrared attenuated total reflectance Spectroscopy (IR-ATR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and MTT cell proliferation assay. The expression of genes associated with osteogenesis, including bone sialoprotein (BSP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteopontin (OPN) and osteocalcin (OCN) were measured by real-time RT-PCR on different time points. Through western blot analysis, ERK1/2 pathway was found to be responsible for the differentiation of MSCs on nanofibrous membranes with different wettability.