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Photo-crosslinkable biopolymers targeting stem cell adhesion and proliferation: the case study of gelatin and starch-based IPNs

  • Special Issue: ESB 2014
  • Tissue Engineering Constructs and Cell Substrates
  • Published:
Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present work focuses on the development of biomaterials that support the adhesion and the proliferation of adipose-tissue derived stem cells. Therefore, gelatin and starch are selected as starting materials. Both hydrogel building blocks are of great interest as they provide a general chemical structure comparable to the protein and the polysaccharide constituting part of the extracellular matrix. Crosslinkable side groups are incorporated on both biopolymers to enable the subsequent chemical crosslinking, thereby ensuring their stability at physiological temperature. An in vitro cellular assay revealed that the hydrogels developed are biocompatible and supported cell adhesion of adipose-tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells. The presence of the starch phase tempered the adhesion resulting in local cell detachment. The results thus indicate that by carefully varying the ratio of the two building blocks, hydrogels can be developed possessing a controllable cell adhesion behavior.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Ghent University for financial support in the frameworks of the UGent-GOA Project 2010-2015 (BOF10/GOA/005, Biomedical Engineering for Improved Diagnosis and Patient-Tailored Treatment of Aortic Aneurysms and Dissection) and the UGent Multidisciplinary Research Partnership Nano- and biophotonics (2010–2014). Ine Van Nieuwenhove would like to thank University Ghent for the financial support under the form of a doctoral fellowship ‘BOF-mandaat’. Sandra Van Vlierberghe would like to acknowledge the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO, Belgium) for financial support under the form of a post-doctoral fellowship and a Research Grant (‘Development of the ideal tissue engineering scaffold by merging state-of-the-art processing techniques’, FWO Krediet aan Navorsers). Peter Dubruel would like to acknowledge the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for the financial support under the form of a granted Research Fellowship. All authors acknowledge the funding obtained for the EuroTransBio (ETB) Project ETB-2012-33 “Autologous Stem Cell-Enriched Scaffolds for Soft Tissue Regeneration—ASCaffolds”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Polymer Chemistry & Biomaterials Group, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, S4-Bis, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Ine Van Nieuwenhove, Sandra Van Vlierberghe & Peter Dubruel

  2. Department of Cell Biology, Rostock University Medical Center, Schillingallee 69, 18057, Rostock, Germany

    Achim Salamon & Kirsten Peters

  3. Brussels Photonics Team, Department of Applied Physics and Photonics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Sandra Van Vlierberghe & Hugo Thienpont

Authors
  1. Ine Van Nieuwenhove
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  2. Sandra Van Vlierberghe
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  3. Achim Salamon
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  4. Kirsten Peters
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  5. Hugo Thienpont
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  6. Peter Dubruel
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Sandra Van Vlierberghe or Peter Dubruel.

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Van Nieuwenhove, I., Van Vlierberghe, S., Salamon, A. et al. Photo-crosslinkable biopolymers targeting stem cell adhesion and proliferation: the case study of gelatin and starch-based IPNs. J Mater Sci: Mater Med 26, 104 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-015-5424-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-015-5424-4

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