Bioactive fluorescent hybrid microparticles as a stand-alone osteogenic differentiation inducer

Neda Aslankoohi; Shigang Lin; Kibret Mequanint

doi:10.1016/j.mtbio.2021.100187

Bioactive fluorescent hybrid microparticles as a stand-alone osteogenic differentiation inducer

Mater Today Bio. 2021 Dec 9:13:100187. doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2021.100187. eCollection 2022 Jan.

Authors

Neda Aslankoohi¹, Shigang Lin², Kibret Mequanint^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5B9, Canada.
² Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5B9, Canada.

Abstract

Osteogenic differentiation of stem cells is one of the essential steps in bone regeneration. While supplementing exogenous factors using differentiation media is the established method to differentiate stem cells into osteoblasts on biomaterials, designing biomaterials that can act as a stand-alone differentiation inducer and promote bone regeneration is preferred for clinical translation. In this work, we report dexamethasone-loaded organic-inorganic hybrid microparticles synthesized from an intrinsically fluorescent poly (ester amide) and tertiary bioactive glass (PEA-BG) as a stand-alone osteogenic differentiation inducer. The mechanical properties data indicated that the compressive modulus of fluorescent hybrid microparticles could be modulated by its composition. The hybrid fluorescent microparticles supported the adhesion and proliferation of 10T1/2 cells in culture for up to seven days. Both pristine and dexamethasone-loaded PEA-BG microparticles were able to induce osteogenic differentiation of 10T1/2 cells in the absence of any media supplement, to a level even higher than standard osteogenic media, as evidenced by the expression of osteogenic markers on gene and protein levels and matrix mineralization. Taken together, the fluorescent PEA-BG hybrid microparticles have the potential to be used as a stand-alone biomaterial for osteogenic differentiation and bone regeneration.

Keywords: Bioactive glass; Dexamethasone delivery; Organic-inorganic fluorescent hybrid microparticles; Osteogenic differentiation; Sol-gel process; poly(ester amide)s.