Evaluating the effects of charged oligopeptide motifs coupled with RGD on osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells.

Mesenchymal stem cells, due to their multilineage differentiation potential, have emerged as a promising cell candidate for cell-based therapy. In recent years, biomaterials were artificially synthesized to control the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. In this study, a series of charged or neutral oligopeptide motifs coupled with RGD were synthesized and used for surface modification using quartz substrates as model. Cell behaviors on the modified surfaces with different charged oligopeptide motifs were studied. It was found that these different charged oligopeptide motifs coupled with RGD were biocompatible for cell proliferation and adhesion. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the positively charged oligopeptide motif could inhibit osteogenic differentiation, while the negatively charged and neutral oligopeptide motifs could enhance osteogenic differentiation in the presence of RGD. This work may bring us enlightenment that different charged oligopeptide motifs coupled with RGD may be used for biomaterial surface modification for different stem cell-based therapies.