A protein-based hydrogel for in vitro expansion of mesenchymal stem cells.
Hydrogels are widely used as scaffolds in tissue engineering because they can provide excellent environments for bioactive components including growth factors and cells. We reported in this study on a physical hydrogel formed by a specific protein-peptide interaction, which could be used for the three dimensional (3D) cell culture of murine mesenchymal stem cells (mMSC). The mMSC kept dividing during the 7-day culture period and the metabolic-active cell number at day 7 was 359% more than that at day 1. This kind of physical hydrogel could be converted to a homogeneous solution by firstly adding an equal volume of culture medium and then pipeting for several times. Therefore, mMSC post culture could be easily separated from cell-gel constructs. We believed that the protein-based hydrogel system in this study could be developed into a promising scaffold for in vitro expansion of stem cells and cell therapy. This work would be in the general interests of researchers in the fields of biomaterials and supramolecular chemistry.
State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Nankai University, Tianjin, China ; College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, China.
Jingyu
J
Wang
Jinxiu
J
Zhang
Xiaoli
X
Zhang
Hao
H
Zhou
D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D006801:Humans; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D012844:Sincalide / Q000378:metabolism
D011506:Proteins; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D012844:Sincalide