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Thermoresponsive Stiffness Softening of Hierarchically Porous Nanohybrid Membranes Promotes Niches for Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation
Author(s) -
Wu Linxiao,
Magaz Adrián,
Darbyshire Arnold,
Howkins Ashley,
Reynolds Alan,
Boyd Ian W.,
Song Hang,
Song JinHua,
Loizidou Marilena,
Emberton Mark,
Birchall Martin,
Song Wenhui
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced healthcare materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.288
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 2192-2659
pISSN - 2192-2640
DOI - 10.1002/adhm.201801556
Subject(s) - materials science , chondrogenesis , softening , mesenchymal stem cell , membrane , scaffold , biomedical engineering , biophysics , nanotechnology , composite material , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , biochemistry , biology
Abstract Despite the attention given to the development of novel responsive implants for regenerative medicine applications, the lack of integration with the surrounding tissues and the mismatch with the dynamic mechanobiological nature of native soft tissues remain in the current products. Hierarchical porous membranes based on a poly (urea–urethane) (PUU) nanohybrid have been fabricated by thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) of the polymer solution at different temperatures. Thermoresponsive stiffness softening of the membranes through phase transition from the semicrystalline phase to rubber phase and reverse self‐assembly of the quasi‐random nanophase structure is characterized at body temperature near the melting point of the crystalline domains of soft segments. The effects of the porous structure and stiffness softening on proliferation and differentiation of human bone‐marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBM‐MSCs) are investigated. The results of immunohistochemistry, histological, ELISA, and qPCR demonstrate that hBM‐MSCs maintain their lineage commitment during stiffness relaxation; chondrogenic differentiation is favored on the soft and porous scaffold, while osteogenic differentiation is more prominent on the initial stiff one. Stiffness relaxation stimulates more osteogenic activity than chondrogenesis, the latter being more influenced by the synergetic coupling effect of softness and porosity.