Magnetic assembly-mediated enhancement of differentiation of mouse bone marrow cells cultured on magnetic colloidal assemblies

Here we reported an interesting phenomenon that the field-induced assemblies of magnetic nanoparticles can promote the differentiation of primary mouse bone marrow cells into osteoblasts. The reason was thought to lie in the remnant magnetic interaction inside the assemblies which resulted from the magnetic field-directed assembly. Influence of the assemblies on the cells was realized by means of interface effect rather than the internalization effect. We fabricated a stripe-like assemblies array on the glass plate and cultured cells on this surface. We characterized the morphology of assemblies and measured the mechanic property as well as the magnetic property. The cellular differentiation was measured by staining and quantitative PCR. Finally, Fe uptake was excluded as the reason to cause the phenomenon.