The negatively charged microenvironment of collagen hydrogels regulates the chondrogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in vitro and in vivo

作者：Jirong Yang, Yumei Xiao, Zizhao Tang, Zhaocong Luo, Dongxiao Li, Qiguang Wang, Xingdong Zhang · 发表于：Journal of Materials Chemistry B · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1039/d0tb00172d · 被引用次数：63 · 研究领域：Osteoarthritis Treatment and Mechanisms、Periodontal Regeneration and Treatments、Proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans research

The differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) into functional chondrocytes is crucial for successful cartilage tissue engineering. Since the extracellular matrix (ECM) microenvironment can regulate the behaviours of BMSCs and guide their differentiation, it is important to simulate the natural cartilage ECM to induce the chondrogenesis of BMSCs. As the most abundant protein in the ECM, collagen hydrogels were found to provide a structural and chemical microenvironment for natural cartilage, and regulate the chondrogenic differentiation of BMSCs. However, as the negatively charged ECM microenvironment is crucial for chondrogenesis and homeostasis within cells in cartilage tissue, the electrical properties of collagen hydrogels need to be further optimized. In this study, three collagen hydrogels with different electrical properties were fabricated using methacrylic anhydride (MA) and succinic anhydride (SA) modification. The collagen hydrogels had a similar composition, storage modulus and integral triple helix structure of collagen, but their different negatively charged microenvironments significantly impacted the hydrophilicity, protein diffusion and binding, and consequently influenced BMSC adhesion and spreading on the surface of the hydrogels. Moreover, the BMSCs encapsulated in the collagen hydrogels also demonstrated improved sGAG secretion and chondrogenic and integrin gene expression with the increased negative charge in vitro. Similar results wer...