TY - JOUR
T1 - Functionalised α-helical peptide hydrogels for neural tissue engineering
AU - Mehrban, N
AU - Zhu, B
AU - Tamagnini, F
AU - Young, FI
AU - Wasmuth, A
AU - Hudson, KL
AU - Thomson, AR
AU - Birchall, MA
AU - Randall, AD
AU - Song, B
AU - Woolfson, DN
PY - 2015/6/8
Y1 - 2015/6/8
N2 - Trauma to the central and peripheral nervous systems often lead to serious morbidity. Current surgical methods for repairing or replacing such damage have limitations. Tissue engineering offers a potential alternative. Here we show that functionalized α-helical-peptide hydrogels can be used to induce attachment, migration, proliferation and differentiation of murine embryonic neural stem cells (NSCs). Specifically, compared with undecorated gels, those functionalized with Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (RGDS) peptides increase the proliferative activity of NSCs; promote their directional migration; induce differentiation, with increased expression of microtubule-associated protein-2, and a low expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein; and lead to the formation of larger neurospheres. Electrophysiological measurements from NSCs grown in RGDS-decorated gels indicate developmental progress toward mature neuron-like behavior. Our data indicate that these functional peptide hydrogels may go some way toward overcoming the limitations of current approaches to nerve-tissue repair.
AB - Trauma to the central and peripheral nervous systems often lead to serious morbidity. Current surgical methods for repairing or replacing such damage have limitations. Tissue engineering offers a potential alternative. Here we show that functionalized α-helical-peptide hydrogels can be used to induce attachment, migration, proliferation and differentiation of murine embryonic neural stem cells (NSCs). Specifically, compared with undecorated gels, those functionalized with Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (RGDS) peptides increase the proliferative activity of NSCs; promote their directional migration; induce differentiation, with increased expression of microtubule-associated protein-2, and a low expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein; and lead to the formation of larger neurospheres. Electrophysiological measurements from NSCs grown in RGDS-decorated gels indicate developmental progress toward mature neuron-like behavior. Our data indicate that these functional peptide hydrogels may go some way toward overcoming the limitations of current approaches to nerve-tissue repair.
U2 - 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.5b00051
DO - 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.5b00051
M3 - Article
SN - 2373-9878
VL - 1
SP - 431
EP - 439
JO - ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering
JF - ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering
IS - 6
ER -