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Contrasting effects of collagen and bFGF‐2 on neural cell function in degradable synthetic PEG hydrogels
Author(s) -
Mahoney Melissa J.,
Anseth Kristi S.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.30970
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , materials science , polyethylene glycol , peg ratio , cell encapsulation , neural cell , basic fibroblast growth factor , transplantation , tissue engineering , neural stem cell , neural tissue engineering , ethylene glycol , cell , viability assay , biomedical engineering , biocompatibility , cell growth , biophysics , growth factor , microbiology and biotechnology , stem cell , biochemistry , chemistry , biology , polymer chemistry , medicine , organic chemistry , surgery , receptor , metallurgy , finance , economics
Injectable biodegradable cell carriers provide a potential means to improve transplanted cell viability in the nervous system by providing physical protection from compaction, shear forces, and the acute inflammatory response that occurs following transplantation into the host brain environment. Synthetic polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogels are ideal candidates for this purpose, as the degradation profile and mechanical properties of the gel can be controlled. Here we introduce biological components into the synthetic gel with the goal of improving neural cell function in the inert PEG environment. In this study, it was found that (1) bFGF‐2 is a survival/mitogenic factor for neural precursor cells in degradable hydrogel cultures, (2) collagen has no measurable effect on cell survival, metabolic activity, or proliferation, and (3) co‐application of collagen and bFGF‐2 to hydrogel cultures targets cell survival and metabolic activity, an effect that is different than either applied individually. Because collagen and bFGF‐2 support the survival and growth of neural cells and other cell types, the co‐encapsulation approach and functional characterization described in this study can be extended to the development of an array of tissue engineering applications. These findings suggest the importance of understanding and developing strategies to control the chemical microenvironment surrounding cells in three‐dimensional biomaterials. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 2007