Characterisation of osteogenic and vascular responses of hMSCs to Ti-Co doped phosphate glass microspheres using a microfluidic perfusion platform

Carlotta Peticone; David De Silva Thompson; Nikolay Dimov; Ben Jevans; Nick Glass; Martina Micheletti; Jonathan C Knowles; Hae-Won Kim; Justin J Cooper-White; Ivan B Wall

doi:10.1177/2041731420954712

Characterisation of osteogenic and vascular responses of hMSCs to Ti-Co doped phosphate glass microspheres using a microfluidic perfusion platform

J Tissue Eng. 2020 Oct 24:11:2041731420954712. doi: 10.1177/2041731420954712. eCollection 2020 Jan-Dec.

Authors

Carlotta Peticone¹, David De Silva Thompson¹, Nikolay Dimov², Ben Jevans³, Nick Glass⁴, Martina Micheletti¹, Jonathan C Knowles^{5

6

7

8

9}, Hae-Won Kim^{7

8

9}, Justin J Cooper-White^{4

10}, Ivan B Wall^{1

9

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemical Engineering, University College London, London, UK.
² Centre for Engineering Research, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK.
³ Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK.
⁴ Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Australia.
⁵ Division of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, University College London Eastman Dental Institute, London, UK.
⁶ The Discoveries Centre for Regenerative and Precision Medicine, UCL Campus, London, UK.
⁷ Department of Nanobiomedical Science & BK21 PLUS NBM Global Research Center for Regenerative Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea.
⁸ UCL Eastman-Korea Dental Medicine Innovation Centre, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea.
⁹ Institute for Tissue Regeneration Engineering, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea.
¹⁰ School of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Australia.
¹¹ Aston Medical Research Institute and School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, UK.

Abstract

Using microspherical scaffolds as building blocks to repair bone defects of specific size and shape has been proposed as a tissue engineering strategy. Here, phosphate glass (PG) microcarriers doped with 5 mol % TiO₂ and either 0 mol % CoO (CoO 0%) or 2 mol % CoO (CoO 2%) were investigated for their ability to support osteogenic and vascular responses of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Together with standard culture techniques, cell-material interactions were studied using a novel perfusion microfluidic bioreactor that enabled cell culture on microspheres, along with automated processing and screening of culture variables. While titanium doping was found to support hMSCs expansion and differentiation, as well as endothelial cell-derived vessel formation, additional doping with cobalt did not improve the functionality of the microspheres. Furthermore, the microfluidic bioreactor enabled screening of culture parameters for cell culture on microspheres that could be potentially translated to a scaled-up system for tissue-engineered bone manufacturing.

Keywords: Stem cells; microfluidics; osteogenic differentiation; phosphate glass; tissue engineering.