Enhanced osteogenesis of human mesenchymal stem cells by self-assembled peptide hydrogel functionalized with glutamic acid templated peptides.

Self-assembling peptide (SAP) hydrogel has been shown to be an excellent biological material for three-dimensional cell culture and stimulatie cell migration and differentiation into the scaffold, as well as for repairing bone tissue defects. Herein, we designed one of the SAP scaffolds KLD (KLDLKLDLKLDL) through direct coupling to short bioactive motif O1 (EEGGC) and O2 (EEEEE) of which bioactivity on osteogenic differentiation was previously demonstrated and self-assembled in different concentrations (0.5%, 1%, and 2%). Our aim was to enhance osteogenesis and biomineralization of injectable SAP hydrogels with controlled mechanical properties so that the peptide hydrogel also becomes capable of being injected to bone defects. The molecular integration of the nanofibrous peptide scaffolds was observed using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The rheological properties and degradation profile of SAP hydrogels were evaluated to ensure stability of SAPs. Compared with pure KLD scaffold, we found that these designed bioactive peptide scaffolds significantly promoted hMSCs proliferation depicted by biochemical analysis of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, total calcium deposition. Moreover, key osteogenic markers of ALP activity, collagen type I (COL-1), osteopontin (OP), and osteocalcin (OCN) expression levels determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunofluorescence analysis were also significantly increased with the addition of glutamic acid residues to KLD. We demonstrated that the designed SAP scaffolds promoted the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of hMSCs. Our results suggest that these designed bioactive peptide scaffolds may be useful for promoting bone tissue regeneration.