Mimicking the Bone Extracellular Matrix through a Calcium Phosphate-Containing Thiol-Ene Cross-Linked Gelatin
Laurens Parmentier1, Sophie D'Haese1, Louis Van der Meeren2
1Polymer Chemistry and Biomaterials (PBM) Group, Centre of Macromolecular Chemistry (CMaC), Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, Building S4, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
Abstract:
Hydroxyapatite (HAP) and amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) nanoparticles were incorporated into a thiol-ene clickable gelatin network to elucidate to what extent osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp- and adipose-derived stem cells (HDPSCs/HASCs) could be further boosted. ACP nanoparticles increased the specific surface area by 23% and reduced the density by 13% while maintaining a comparable particle size (ACP: 25 ± 3 nm; HAP: 27 ± 3 nm). Overall, the incorporation of ceramic nanoparticles did not significantly alter the mechanical properties of the ceramic-containing composites compared to the unsubstituted thiol-ene network. ACP nanoparticles at high concentrations promoted a 21-day osteogenic response in HASCs (72.09 ± 20.20 ng Ca2+/ng DNA) comparable to HDPSCs, with the latter showing high calcium production irrespective of the ceramic content (78.45 ± 10.87 ng Ca2+/ng DNA), suggesting that the provided cues must be optimized according to the investigated cell type toward a cell-interactive coating application stimulating osteogenesis.
