MC3T3 preosteoblast differentiation on bone morphogenetic protein-2 peptide ormosils

Abstract

The design of biointerfaces that stimulate cell differentiation is a rapidly growing area of research that has significant implications in biomedicine. Biointerfaces that stimulate osteogenesis are typically composed, at least in part, of a biomimetic ceramic material, such as bioactive glass. Cell differentiation on these materials is quite remarkable, and can be enhanced by further addition of extracellular signals, such as growth factors or extracellular matrix proteins. However, addition of whole proteins can be difficult to replicate due to protein conformational changes on surfaces of interest. To investigate whether well-controlled synthetic peptide combinations can stimulate osteogenesis of MC3T3 pre-osteoblast cells, we decorated the surface of 2D silica thin films made by the sol–gel technique with 3 peptide sequences from different proteins known for their capabilities to stimulate the osteogenesis process (fibronectin, BMP-2, and BMP-9). MC3T3 pre-osteoblasts were seeded onto the materials in a standard proliferation medium and grown for five weeks. Cells were also grown on tissue culture treated cover slips with and without differentiation induction media as positive and negative controls, respectively. Cells were examined weekly to assess osteogenesis. MC3T3 pre-osteoblasts appear to undergo enhanced differentiation on the peptide-silane samples over silica thin films, and the differentiation capacity of the cells exposed only to peptide-silane surfaces approaches that of cells grown in chemical differentiation induction media.