Cellular behaviour of hepatocyte-like cells from nude mouse bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells on galactosylated poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid).

Previously, the galactosylation of poly(d,l-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) surface was accomplished by grafting allylamine (AA), using inductively coupled plasma-assisted chemical vapour deposition (ICP-CVD) and conjugating lactobionic acid (LA) with AA via 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide (EDC/NHS) activation for hepatic tissue-engineering purposes. As a continuation study, the cellular behaviour of hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) on the surface of the galactosylated PLGA were investigated. Nude mouse bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were cultured under hepatogenic conditions and the differentiated cells were characterized by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), immunofluorescence and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining. Galactosylated PLGA enhanced the proliferation rate of HLCs compared to the control; HLCs on the surface of the sample became aggregated and formed spheroids after 3 days of culture. A large number of cells on the surface of the sample exhibited increased liver-specific functional activities, such as albumin and urea secretions. In addition, multicellular spheroids in the sample strongly expressed phospholyated focal adhesion kinase (pFAK) (cell-matrix interactions), E-cadherin (cell-cell interactions) and connexin 32 (Cox32; gap junction).