Mimicking the Bone Extracellular Matrix through a Calcium Phosphate-Containing Thiol-Ene Cross-Linked Gelatin Composite

Laurens Parmentier; Sophie D'Haese; Louis Van der Meeren; Anna Szabó; Andre G Skirtach; Ruslan I Dmitriev; Janis Locs; Sandra Van Vlierberghe

doi:10.1021/acs.biomac.4c01182

Mimicking the Bone Extracellular Matrix through a Calcium Phosphate-Containing Thiol-Ene Cross-Linked Gelatin Composite

Biomacromolecules. 2024 Dec 16. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.4c01182. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Laurens Parmentier¹, Sophie D'Haese¹, Louis Van der Meeren², Anna Szabó¹, Andre G Skirtach², Ruslan I Dmitriev³, Janis Locs^{4

5}, Sandra Van Vlierberghe¹

Affiliations

¹ Polymer Chemistry and Biomaterials (PBM) Group, Centre of Macromolecular Chemistry (CMaC), Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, Building S4, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
² Nano-biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent university, Proeftuinstraat 86, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
³ Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Group, Department of Human Structure and Repair, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Ghent University, C. Heymanslaan 10, Ghent 9000, Belgium.
⁴ Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology, Riga Technical University, Pulka 3, Riga LV-1007, Latvia.
⁵ Baltic Biomaterials Centre of Excellence, Headquarters at Riga Technical University, Riga LV-1658, Latvia.

PMID: 39680045
DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.4c01182

Abstract

Hydroxyapatite (HAP) and amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) nanoparticles were incorporated into a thiol-ene clickable gelatin network to elucidate to what extent osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp- and adipose-derived stem cells (HDPSCs/HASCs) could be further boosted. ACP nanoparticles increased the specific surface area by 23% and reduced the density by 13% while maintaining a comparable particle size (ACP: 25 ± 3 nm; HAP: 27 ± 3 nm). Overall, the incorporation of ceramic nanoparticles did not significantly alter the mechanical properties of the ceramic-containing composites compared to the unsubstituted thiol-ene network. ACP nanoparticles at high concentrations promoted a 21-day osteogenic response in HASCs (72.09 ± 20.20 ng Ca²⁺/ng DNA) comparable to HDPSCs, with the latter showing high calcium production irrespective of the ceramic content (78.45 ± 10.87 ng Ca²⁺/ng DNA), suggesting that the provided cues must be optimized according to the investigated cell type toward a cell-interactive coating application stimulating osteogenesis.