Effect of grafting BMP2-derived peptide to nanoparticles on osteogenic and vasculogenic expression of stromal cells

Bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP2) plays a major role in initiating the cascade of osteogenesis. However, high doses of exogenous BMP2 coupled with diffusion away from the intended site cause adverse side-effects. An alternative is to use biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) grafted with peptides of the active domains of BMP2. NPs present a multivalent form of the peptide for stronger interaction with cell surface receptors, leading to a stronger activation of osteogenic signalling pathways. The objective of this work was to compare osteogenic activity of the BMP2 peptide (BMP2Pe), corresponding to residues 73-92 of BMP2 protein (BMP2Pr), grafted to biodegradable NPs with that of BMP2 protein (BMP2Pr). BMP2Pe was functionalized with a cysteine residue and grafted to poly(lactide fumarate) and poly(lactide-co-ethylene oxide fumarate) (PLAF/PLEOF) NPs via a thioether link. The calcium content of bone marrow stromal (BMS) cells cultured in osteogenic medium supplemented with BMP2 peptide/protein-grafted NPs (BMP2Pe-gNP and BMP2Pr-gNP) was slightly higher than other BMP2-treated groups, but all osteogenic groups showed similar levels of mineralization after 21 days. The expression pattern of master transcription factors Dlx5 and Runx2 indicated that BMP2 protein induced faster osteogenic signalling than the BMP peptide. The expression level of Osteopontin (OP), Osteocalcin (OC) and PECAM-1 in the NP-grafted BMP2 groups was significantly higher than those of ungrafted BMP2Pr and BMP2Pe groups, which may be due to a more effective presentation of the peptide/protein to cell surface receptors, thus leading to a stronger interaction of the peptide/protein with clustered cell surface receptors.