Journal
BIOMATERIALS
Volume 40, Issue -, Pages 51-60Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2014.11.017
Keywords
Stiffness gradient; Polyvinyl alcohol; Hydrogel; Stem cell; Differentiation
Funding
- Research Fund of Hannam University [2014A130]
- National Research Foundation of Korea [22A20130000142] Funding Source: Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI), National Science & Technology Information Service (NTIS)
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Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) cylindrical hydrogel with a stiffness gradient was prepared using a simple liquid nitrogen (LN2)-contacting gradual freezing and thawing method in order to investigate the effects of substrate stiffness on stem cell differentiation into specific cell types. The prepared cylindrical PVA hydrogel showed a gradually increasing stiffness along the longitudinal direction from the top at approximately 1 kPa to the bottom (LN2 contacted side) at approximately 24 kPa. From the in vitro culture of bone marrow stem cells, it was observed that each soft (similar to 1 kPa) and stiff (similar to 24 kPa) hydrogel section promotes effective neurogenesis and osteogenesis of the cells, respectively, with the tendency to gradually decrease toward the opposing characteristic's side. The stiffness gradient cylindrical PVA hydrogel fabricated using this simple gradual freezing and thawing method can be a useful tool for basic studies, including the determination of optimum stiffness ranges for a variety of stem cell differentiations, as well as the investigation of cell migration in terms of substrate stiffness. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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