Effect of alginate hydrogel containing polyproline-rich peptides on osteoblast differentiation

Polyproline-rich synthetic peptides have previously been shown to induce bone formation and mineralization in vitro and to decrease bone resorption in vivo. Alginate hydrogel formulations containing these synthetic peptides (P2, P5, P6) or Emdogain® (EMD) were tested for surface coating of bone implants. In an aqueous environment, the alginate hydrogels disclosed a highly compact structure suitable for cell adhesion and proliferation. Lack of cytotoxicity of the alginate-gel coating containing peptides was tested in MC3T3-E1 cell cultures. In the present study, relative mRNA expression levels of integrin alpha 8 were induced by P5 compared to untreated alginate gel, and osteopontin mRNA levels were increased after 21 days of culture by treatment with synthetic peptides or EMD compared to control. Further, in agreement with previous results when the synthetic peptides were administered in the culture media, osteocalcin mRNA was significantly upregulated after long-term treatment with the formulated synthetic peptides compared to untreated and EMD alginate gel. These results indicate that the alginate gel is a suitable carrier for the delivery of synthetic peptides, and that the formulation is promising as biodegradable and biocompatible coating for bone implants.