Graphene Oxide-Collagen Matrix Accelerated Osteogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Graphene was applied in biomedical research including tissue engineering, drug delivering. And it is convincing that collagen substrates were applied in the bone tissue engineering with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), however it is not clear about the effects of supplement of graphene in collagen on osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. Therefore, we incorporated graphene oxide (GO) with collagen and investigated whether the Osteogenesis was promoted by the bioactive GO-collagen matrix. The incorporation of GO supported cell adhesion and proliferation of rat bone marrow derived MSCs (rBMSCs). Meanwhile, comparing to glass slides, collagen matrix, Live/Dead assay demonstrated that cell viability of rBMSCs was not dampened by GO. The distribution pattern of F-actin indicated that the spread of rBMSCs was improved by GO-collagen in dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the osteogenic differentiation was accelerated by GO, which was determined by histological staining of Osteocalcin (OCN) and Alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Also, the determination of calcium deposition by ALP staining and alizarin red staining further confirmed the promotion of osteogenesis from rBMSCs on GO-collagen substrates comparing to collagen matrix and glass slides. In summary, this study demonstrates that GO-collagen substrates have high bone-inducing capabilities, suggesting them as an alternative role for current bone-repair therapies.