Abstract
Mechanical cues such as hydrostatic pressure (HP) are known to regulate mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation. The fate of such cells is also strongly influenced by their substrate. The objective of this study was to test how different modifications of polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds would influence the response of MSCs to HP. Porcine bone marrow derived MSCs were cultured on PCL, PCL-hyaluronic acid (HA) and PCL-Bioglass® (BG) scaffolds for 35 d and stimulated with a HP bioreactor (10 MPa; 1 Hz; 2 h d−1). Scaffold composition was found to modulate the response to HP. MSCs seeded onto both PCL and BG scaffolds responded positively to the application of HP, with increases in cartilage extracellular matrix synthesis and a reduction in type I collagen accumulation. This positive effect was not observed on HA scaffolds. The results of this study demonstrate that changes to scaffold composition can have a notable effect on the response of MSCs to bioreactor culture conditions.
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