title: The effects of pore architecture in silk fibroin scaffolds on the growth and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells expressing BMP7.
abstract: The pore architecture of scaffolds is known to play a critical role in tissue engineering as it provides the vital framework for seeded cells to organize into a functioning tissue. In this report we have investigated the effects of different concentrations of silk fibroin protein on three-dimensional (3D) scaffold pore microstructure. Four pore size ranges of silk fibroin scaffolds were made by the freeze drying technique, with the pore sizes ranging from 50 to 300 microm. The pore sizes of the scaffolds decreased as the concentration of fibroin protein increased. Human bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSC) transfected with the BMP7 gene were cultured in these scaffolds. A cell viability colorimetric assay, alkaline phosphatase assay and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction were performed to analyze the effect of pore size on cell growth, the secretion of extracellular matrix (ECM) and osteogenic differentiation. Cell migration in 3D scaffolds was confirmed by confocal microscopy. Calvarial defects in SCID mice were used to determine the bone forming ability of the silk fibroin scaffolds incorporating BMSC expressing BMP7. The results showed that BMSC expressing BMP7 preferred a pore size between 100 and 300 microm in silk fibroin protein fabricated scaffolds, with better cell proliferation and ECM production. Furthermore, in vivo transplantation of the silk fibroin scaffolds combined with BMSC expressing BMP7 induced new bone formation. This study has shown that an optimized pore architecture of silk fibroin scaffolds can modulate the bioactivity of BMP7-transfected BMSC in bone formation.
authors.affiliation: Ministry Education Key Laboratory for Oral Biomedical Engineering School of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China.
authors.forename: Yufeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Zhaocheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Chengtie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D055419:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7 / Q000378:metabolism*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D057075:Enzyme Assays; D005349:Fibroins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000473:pathology; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051379:Mice; D016513:Mice, SCID; D010641:Phenotype; D016062:Porosity / Q000187:drug effects; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D055419:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7; D005349:Fibroins; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase