Plant virus incorporated hydrogels as scaffolds for tissue engineering possess low immunogenicity in vivo.
Viruses are no longer recognized purely for being ubiquitous pathogens, but have served as building blocks for material chemistry and nanotechnology. Thousands of coat protein subunits of a viral particle can be modified chemically and/or genetically. We have previously shown that the three-dimensional porous hydrogels can easily be functionalized by Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), a rod-like plant virus, using its mutant, RGD-TMV. RGD-TMV hosted bioadhesive peptide (RGD) in the hydrogel, which was shown to enhance cell attachment and promote osteogenic differentiation of cultured stem cell. To translate this technology to potential clinical applications, we sought to study the biocompatibility of the hydrogel. In this paper, the hydrogels were implanted in vivo and assessed for their immunogenicity, toxicity, and biodegradability. Immune response for TMV substantially decreased when incorporated in the hydrogel implants. The implanted TMV hydrogels exhibited no apparent toxicity and were degradable in mice. The results highlighted the feasibility of using TMV incorporated hydrogels as scaffolding materials for regenerative medicine in terms of biocompatibility and biodegradability.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
Jittima Amie
JA
Luckanagul
L Andrew
LA
Lee
Shaojin
S
You
Xiaoming
X
Yang
Qian
Q
Wang
D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000378:metabolism; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009154:Mutation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry; D010012:Osteogenesis; D010232:Paraffin / Q000737:chemistry; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry; D044968:Regenerative Medicine; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds; D014027:Tobacco Mosaic Virus / Q000737:chemistry
D000464:Alginates; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D020100:Hydrogels; D009842:Oligopeptides; D010455:Peptides; C047981:arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid; D010232:Paraffin
biocompatibility; hydrogel; implant; tissue engineering; tobacco mosaic virus; virus nanoparticles