Proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells using self-assembled peptide amphiphile nanofibers

The objective of this study is to enhance the proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in nanodimensional scaffolds. The proliferation and differentiation of MSC was investigated in a three-dimensional network of nanofibers formed by self-assembly of peptide amphiphile (PA) molecules. PA was synthesized by standard solid phase chemistry that ends with the alkylation of the NH(2) terminus of the peptide. The sequence of arginine-glycine-aspartic acid was included in the peptide design as well. A three-dimensional network of nanofibers was formed by mixing MSC suspensions in media with dilute aqueous solution of PA. The attachment, proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of MSC were influenced by the self-assembled PA nanofibers as the cell scaffold and the values were significantly high compared with those in the static culture. The alkaline phosphatase activity and osteocalcin content of MSC cultured in the PA nanofibers significantly increased compared with the static culture method. It may be concluded that PA nanofibers enable MSC to positively improve the proliferation and differentiation extent.