Polydopamine-based biofunctional substrate coating promotes mesenchymal stem cell migration

Zijun Deng,Xun Xu,Weiwei Wang,Andreas Lendlein,Nan Ma

doi:10.1557/s43580-021-00091-4

Zijun Deng, Xun Xu + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1557/s43580-021-00091-4

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Abstract

Rapid migration of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on device surfaces could support in vivo tissue integration and might facilitate in vitro organoid formation. Here, polydopamine (PDA) is explored as a biofunctional coating to effectively promote MSC motility. It is hypothesized that PDA stimulates fibronectin deposition and in this way enhances integrin-mediated migration capability. The random and directional cell migration was investigated by time-lapse microscopy and gap closure assay respectively, and analysed with softwares as computational tools. A higher amount of deposited fibronectin was observed on PDA substrate, compared to the non-coated substrate. The integrin β1 activation and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) phosphorylation at Y397 were enhanced on PDA substrate, but the F-actin cytoskeleton was not altered, suggesting MSC migration on PDA was regulated by integrin initiated FAK signalling. This study strengthens the biofunctionality of PDA coating for regulating stem cells and offering a way of facilitating tissue integration of devices.Graphic abstractPolydopamine-coated substrate induces increased fibronectin deposition of mesenchymal stem cells, and promotes cell migration via integrin-initiated FAK signaling, compared to non-coated polystyrene-based standard tissue culture surface. In this way, multifunctional PDA coating could support in vivo tissue integration on implant surface and promote in vitro organoid formation.

Highlights

A multifunctional layer created at the interface of stem cells and biomaterials, for example through the coating and modification of cell culture material or implant surface, would play a crucial role to regulate and control the behavior and function of stem cells and thereby to enhance the beneficial effect in biomedical applications [1, 2]
Our results indicated that the percentage of gap closure was significantly increased on the PLL and PDA substrates, as compared to the non-coated tissue culture plate (TCP) (Fig. 1e)
These results suggested that PDA promoted mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) migration through the activation of integrin and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) signalling

Summary

Introduction

A multifunctional layer created at the interface of stem cells and biomaterials, for example through the coating and modification of cell culture material or implant surface, would play a crucial role to regulate and control the behavior and function of stem cells and thereby to enhance the beneficial effect in biomedical applications [1, 2]. PDA coatings were proven to be able to promote adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation of stem cells, and have been used in tissue engineering to modify the surface of metal-, polymer- and carbon-based implants [9, 10]. The PDA coating was applied to a polystyrene based standard tissue culture plate (TCP) via polymerization of dopamine solution in alkaline buffer. MSC migration on PDA substrate was examined with timelapse microscopy and gap closure assay. The mechanism that PDA coated substrate promotes MSC migration was investigated, focusing on fibronectin deposition, integrin activation, cytoskeleton organization and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) phosphorylation. The multifunctional PDA coatings were prepared on polystyrene based standard tissue culture plates (TCPs) via polymerization of dopamine solution in alkaline buffer.

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