ECM coating modification generated by optimized decellularization process improves functional behavior of BMSCs

Mei Li; Tingxia Zhang; Jingyu Jiang; Yuxing Mao; Anqi Zhang; Jiyuan Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.msec.2019.110039

ECM coating modification generated by optimized decellularization process improves functional behavior of BMSCs

Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2019 Dec:105:110039. doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2019.110039. Epub 2019 Jul 31.

Authors

Mei Li¹, Tingxia Zhang², Jingyu Jiang², Yuxing Mao², Anqi Zhang², Jiyuan Zhao³

Affiliations

¹ Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Pathophysiology, Medical School of Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, People's Republic of China; Ningbo Institute of Medical Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315020, People's Republic of China.
² Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Pathophysiology, Medical School of Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, People's Republic of China.
³ Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Pathophysiology, Medical School of Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: zhaojiyuan@nbu.edu.cn.

PMID: 31546422
DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2019.110039

Abstract

Bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have been widely applied in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. However, small number of BMSCs and loss of stem cell characteristics after expansion in vitro limited clinical use of BMSCs. In the present study, osteoblasts were cultured to lay down extracellular matrix (ECM) and then the cells were removed (decellularization) to generate ECM coating substrates. The decellularization process was optimized to maximally remove cells and cellular components, along with integrated ECM retained which was demonstrated to be beneficial for BMSCs expansion in vitro. After decellularization, only less than 2% of residual DNA and cellular proteins were detected in TFFF-ECM (decellularized by triton X-100 (T) and three freeze/thaw cycles (FFF)), which was much less than that in TN-ECM generated by traditional decellularization method (triton X-100 (T) and NH₄OH (N)). Meanwhile, ECM components and structure were preserved best after decellularization by TFFF method. More ECM proteins were detected, and structure proteins (fibronectin and collagen) exhibited as classic network fibers in TFFF-ECM. Functionally, all kinds of decellularized ECM (dECM) were demonstrated to promote BMSCs proliferation and osteogenic differentiation capacity, thus maintain the stemness of BMSCs. Importantly, cells cultured on TFFF-ECM grew faster than the cells on other kinds of dECM at early stage and TFFF-ECM was beneficial to preserve stemness of BMSCs with high expression of OCT4 and NANOG when cultured in vitro. Proteomic analysis showed the proteins in ECM functioned in multiple biological activities and signaling pathways, which contributed to stemness maintenance of BMSC. Thus, the mild decellularization process optimized in this study enhanced the effectiveness of dECM for BMSCs culture in vitro and maybe further applied to BMSCs based tissue repair.

Keywords: Bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs); Decellularization; Extracellular matrix (ECM); Stemness.

MeSH terms

Animals
Biomarkers / metabolism
Calcification, Physiologic
Cell Line
Cell Proliferation
Cells, Cultured
Collagen / metabolism
DNA / metabolism
Extracellular Matrix / chemistry*
Extracellular Matrix / ultrastructure
Gene Expression Regulation
Glycosaminoglycans / metabolism
Mesenchymal Stem Cells / cytology*
Mice
Rats, Wistar

Substances

Biomarkers
Glycosaminoglycans
Collagen
DNA