Magnetically Induced Anisotropic Microstructures on Polyethylene Glycol Hydrogel Facilitate BMSC Alignment and Osteogenic Differentiation

Many tissues exhibit structural anisotropy, which imparts orientation-specific properties and functions. However, recapitulating the cellular patterns found in anisotropic tissues presents a remarkable challenge, particularly when using soft and wet hydrogels. Herein, we develop self-assembled aniso...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hua Zhang, Yang Luo, Rong Xu, Xu Cao, Guanrong Li, Shang Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Gels
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2310-2861/10/12/814
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Summary:Many tissues exhibit structural anisotropy, which imparts orientation-specific properties and functions. However, recapitulating the cellular patterns found in anisotropic tissues presents a remarkable challenge, particularly when using soft and wet hydrogels. Herein, we develop self-assembled anisotropic magnetic Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> micropatterns on polyethylene glycol hydrogels utilizing dipole–dipole interactions. Under the influence of a static magnetic field, Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanoparticles align into highly ordered structures with a height of 400–600 nm and a width of 8–10 μm. Furthermore, our layer-by-layer assembly technique enables the creation of oriented micropatterns with varying densities and heights, which can be further manipulated to form three-dimensional structures by adjusting the angle of the magnetic field. These anisotropic magnetic Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> micropatterns can be applied to various substrates, including treated glass slides, standard glass slides, silicon wafers, and polydimethylsiloxane. The patterned Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> scaffolds, modified with gold coating, effectively enhance cellular adhesion, orientation, and osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived stem cells, which is crucial for effective tissue repair. Overall, this study presents an efficient strategy for constructing anisotropic Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> micropattern hydrogels, providing a bioactive platform that significantly enhances cellular functions.
ISSN:2310-2861