Cytocompatible, Photoreversible, and Self-Healing Hydrogels for Regulating Bone Marrow Stromal Cell Differentiation

Photo-crosslinking and self-healing have received considerable attention for the design of intelligent materials. A novel photostimulated, self-healing, and cytocompatible hydrogel system is reported. A coumarin methacrylate crosslinker is synthesized to modify the polyacrylamide-based hydrogels. With the [2+2] cyclo-addition of coumarin moieties, the hydrogels exhibit excellent self-healing capacity when they are exposed to light with wavelengths at 280 and 365 nm, respectively. To enhance cell compatibility, a poly (amidoamine) crosslinker is also synthesized. Variations in light exposure times and irradiation wavelengths are found to alter the self-healing property of the hydrogels. The hydrogels are shown to induce a regular cellular pattern. The hydrogels are used to regulate bone marrow stromal cells differentiation. The relative mRNA expressions are recorded to monitor the osteogenic differentiation of the cells.