Adhesion, Spreading, and Proliferation of Endothelial Cells on Charged Hydrogels

Abstract

As soft and wet scaffolds, hydrogels are attractive materials for tissue engineering due to their similarity in structure and properties to living tissue. For designing hydrogels as potential artificial tissues, some basic requirements, such as a high level of cellular viability, suitable viscoelasticity, and high mechanical strength are required. However, it is difficult to develop a hydrogel that satisfies even two of these requirements at the same time. In this review, our recent advances in developing synthetic hydrogels as cell culture scaffold are summarized. We found that endothelial cells (ECs) can proliferate directly on some synthetic hydrogels with negatively charge, so long as the hydrogels have a Zeta potential lower than c.a. -20 mV , and the cell behavior can be controlled by adjusting the hydrogel's charge density. Furthermore, confluent EC monolayers cultured on the hydrogels show excellent platelet compatibility, compared to EC monolayer cultured on polystyrene plate. On the basis of the above study, we have further developed micro-patterned hydrogels for selective cell spreading, proliferation, and orientation. We have also developed tough hydrogels on which cells show viability. These results will promote the potential applications of synthetic hydrogels in tissue engineering.

Gene expression, glycocalyx assay, and surface properties of human endothelial cells cultured on hydrogel matrix with sulfonic moiety: Effect of elasticity of hydrogel

“…In a word, HCAECs cultured on hydrogels of optimal modulus have an excellent function against platelets adhesion while those on PS show a poor surface function. The result is consistent with the result of vein endothelial cells cultured on hydrogels reported by our previous investigation 34, 47…”

Spontaneous Redifferentiation of Dedifferentiated Human Articular Chondrocytes on Hydrogel Surfaces

“…On gels with F < 0.4 (low charge density), endothelial cells had a small area, fast migration velocity, and showed less proliferation due to poor fibronectin adsorption, whereas on gels with F ¼ 0.4 or higher (high charge density), endothelial cells had a large area and were less mobile, reaching confluence on the gel surface. 34,36 On the basis of these results, we also assumed that the fast migration of NHAC-kn cells on neutral and low-charge-density hydrogels was due to poor fibronectin adsorption, which enhances the collision frequency between NHAC-kn cells and favors the vertical stacking of cells. The weaker adhesion of the gel favors the 3D stacking of the cells, which is similar to the behavior in vivo, and this promotes the redifferentiation of the cells.…”

“…33 The double-network hydrogel surface was covered by a layer of the neutral polymer poly(N, N-dimethylacrylamide) (PDMAAm); the adherence of this polymer to the cells is probably weak yet suitable. 34 Considering that the chondrocytes are present in cartilages in a 3D manner, we assume that the dedifferentiation of chondrocytes to a fibroblastic phenotype on the 2D PS substratum is due to the very strong adhesion of the PS substratum to the cells. By tuning the interaction between the substratum and chondrocytes, we expect chondrocyte redifferentiation to occur on a 2D scaffold along with proper adhesion of the chondrocytes to the substratum.…”

Dynamic Behavior and Spontaneous Differentiation of Mouse Embryoid Bodies on Hydrogel Substrates of Different Surface Charge and Chemical Structures

“…28,29 Our previous studies have shown that the amount of negative charges of hydrogels has a substantial influence on the behaviors of cells. [30][31][32][33] It has been found that negatively charged hydrogels, such as poly(2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid sodium salt) (PNaAMPS) and poly(sodium p-styrene sulfonate) (PNaSS), are suitable scaffolds for endothelial cell culture. When the gel was negatively charged with an absolute Zeta potential value higher than 20 mV, endothelial cells can adhere, spread, proliferate, and finally reach confluence on the gel surface, without any modification of cell adhesive protein.…”

“…When the gel was negatively charged with an absolute Zeta potential value higher than 20 mV, endothelial cells can adhere, spread, proliferate, and finally reach confluence on the gel surface, without any modification of cell adhesive protein. [30][31][32][33] On the other hand, the dedifferentiated chondrocytes can spontaneously be re-differentiated to chondrocytes cells on neutral and low-charge-density hydrogels. 34 Moreover, negatively charged gels can induce chondrogenic differentiation even in the insulin-free maintenance medium, while the neutral gels showed better performance for chondrogenic aggregation and differentiation when the inducible factors were added in the culture system.…”