Migration of Marrow Stromal Cells in Response to Sustained Release of Stromal-Derived Factor-1α from Poly(lactide ethylene oxide fumarate) Hydrogels

Abstract

AbstractStromal derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) is an important chemokine in stem cell trafficking and plays a critical role in the homing, osteogenesis as well as angiogenesis of bone marrow stromal (BMS) cells. The objective of this work was to investigate the release characteristics of SDF-1α from the degradable poly(lactide ethylene oxide fumarate) (PLEOF) hydrogels and to determine the effect of sustained release of SDF-1α on migration of BMS cells. Three PLEOF macromers with PLA content of 6, 9, and 24 by weight were synthesized by condensation polymerization. The cumulative amount of biologically-active SDF-1α released from the PLEOF hydrogels after 3 weeks was between 20-25% of the initial loading and was independent of PLA/PEG ratio in the hydrogel. The migration of BMS cells in response to the time-release SDF-1α from PLEOF hydrogels closely followed the release kinetics of SDF-1α from the hydrogels. Results demonstrate that migration of BMS cells was significantly increased by the sustained release of SDF-1α from PLEOF hydrogels.