Effective elastin-like recombinamers coating on poly(vinylidene) fluoride membranes for mesenchymal stem cell culture

[EN] Bone's inherent piezoelectricity is a key factor in regulating bone growth and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) fate towards the osteogenic lineage. The piezoelectric polymer poly(vinylidene) fluoride (PVDF) was thus used to manufacture electroactive membranes by means of non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS), producing porous membranes with approximately 90% of gamma-phase for MSCs culture. The combination of the porous surface and PVDF hydrophobicity hinders cell adhesion and requires a coating to improve cell culture conditions. A layer-by-layer (LbL) method was used to deposit elastin-like recombinamers (ELRs) containing RGD sequences applying click cross-linking chemistry. ELRs potential was confirmed by comparing traditional fibronectin adsorption with ELRs LbL on PVDF electroactive membranes. Porcine bone marrow MSCs preferred ELRs-coated surfaces, which enhanced initial cell adhesion and improved proliferation after 7 days. These findings lead to new possibilities for regenerative therapies in the area of bone tissue engineering, offering the advantages of MSC commitment towards the osteogenic lineage by applying electro-mechanical stimulation on electroactive substrates.This work was supported by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) through Projects PID2019-106000RB-C21/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and PID2019-106099RB-C43/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (including FEDER funds). Maria Guillot-Ferriols received government funding for her doctoral thesis [grant number BES-2017-080398FPI]. The CIBER-BBN initiative is funded by the VI National R&D&I Plan 2008-2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program. CIBER actions are financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund. The authors are grateful for the funding from the Spanish Government (MAT2016-78903-R, RTI2018-096320-B-C22), Junta de Castilla y Leon (VA317P18), Interreg V Espana Portugal POCTEP (0624_2IQBIONEURO_6_E) and Centro en Red de Medicina Regenerativa y Terapia Celular de Castilla y Leon. This work was also supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Funding UID/FIS/04650/2020. The authors thank FCT and FEDER funds (COMPETE 2020) under projects PTDC/BTM-MAT/28237/2017, PTDC/EMD-EMD/28159/2017 and PTDC/FIS-MAC/28157/2017. Carlos M. Costa is grateful to the FCT [grant number FRH/BPD/112547/2015]. Financial support was also received from the Basque Government under the ELKARTEK, HAZITEK and PIBA (PIBA-2018-06) programs.Guillot-Ferriols, MT.; Del Barrio, A.; Costa, CM.; Lanceros-Méndez, S.; Rodríguez-Cabello, JC.; Gómez Ribelles, JL.; Santos, M.... (2021). Effective elastin-like recombinamers coating on poly(vinylidene) fluoride membranes for mesenchymal stem cell culture. European Polymer Journal. 146:1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2021.11026911014