›› 2020, Vol. 11 ›› Issue (1): 13-18.

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The effect of stiffness of matrix on the osteoblasts growth and differentiation

  

  • Received:2019-11-04 Revised:2020-03-05 Online:2020-03-25 Published:2020-04-07
  • Contact: Wei-Dong TIAN E-mail:drtwd@sina.com

Abstract: Objective: To investigate the effects of polyacrylamide (PA) hydrogel substrates with different stiffness on the growth and differentiation of cell line of osteoblastic (MG63). Methods: PA hydrogels with different stiffness was prepared and its properties such as water absorption, wettability and elastic modulus were tested. Then we inoculated MG63 cells on different PA hydrogels coated with Sulfo-SANPAH and collagen I, and we observed the cell growth by light microscope and scanning electron microscope, then the real-time quantitative RT-PCR and cell immunofluorescence staining were used to detect the expression of genes and proteins about osteogenesis and stemness of MG63. Results: PA hydrogels (PA1 and PA2) with stiffness of (31.32±1.04) kPa and (147.62±1.30) kPa were prepared with good hydrophilic properties. The cells grew in clumps on PA hydrogels. Compared with traditional culture dishes, the expression of sex-determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2), octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4) genes and protein in cells cultured on PA hydrogels were significantly increased (P<0.05), and the expression of runt related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), osteocalcin (OCN) genes and protein were significantly decreased (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the expression of osteogenic genes in the cells growing on PA1 and PA2 (P>0.05), while the expression of OCT4 and SOX2 genes in the cells of the PA2 group was higher than that of PA1 (P<0.05). Conclusions: The stiffer PA hydrogel is beneficial to the growth and maintenance of the stemness of osteoblast.

Key words: polyacrylamide hydrogels, stiffness, cell growth, osteosarcoma cells, stemness gene expression, osteogenic differentiation