Electrospun Poly (Aspartic Acid)-Modified Zein Nanofibers for Promoting Bone Regeneration.
Background
Critical-sized bone defects raise great challenges. Zein is of interest for bone regeneration, but it has limited ability to stimulate cell proliferation. In this regard, a poly (aspartic acid) (PAsp)-zein hybrid is promising, as PAsp can promote rat bone marrow stromal cell (rBMSCs) proliferation and osteogenic differentiation. This research aimed to develop electrospun PAsp-modified zein nanofibers to realize critical-sized bone defects repair.


Methods
Three groups of PAsp-modified zein nanofibers were prepared, they were PAsp grafting percentages of 0% (zein), 5.32% (ZPAA-1), and 7.63% (ZPAA-2). Using rBMSCs as in vitro cell model and SD rats as in vivo animal model, fluorescence staining, SEM, CCK-8, ALP, ARS staining, μCT and histological analysis were performed to verify the biological and osteogenic activities for PAsp-modified zein nanofibers.


Results
As the Asp content increased from 0% to 7.63%, the water contact angle decreased from 129.8 ± 2.3° to 105.5 ± 2.5°. SEM, fluorescence staining and CCK-8 assay showed that ZPAA-2 nanofibers had a superior effect on rBMSCs spreading and proliferation than did zein and ZPAA-1 nanofibers, ALP activity and ARS staining showed that ZPAA-2 can improve rBMSCs osteogenic differentiation. In vivo osteogenic activities was evaluated by μCT analysis, HE, Masson and immunohistochemical staining, indicating accelerated bone formation in ZPAA-2 SD rats after 4 and 8 weeks treatment, with a rank order of ZPAA-2 > ZPAA-1 > zein group. Moreover, the semiquantitative results of the Masson staining revealed that the maturity of the new bone was higher in the ZPAA-2 group than in the other groups.


Conclusion
Electrospun PAsp-modified zein can provide a suitable microenvironment for osteogenic differentiation of rBMSCs, as well as for bone regeneration; the optimal membrane appears to have a PAsp grafting percentage of 7.63%.
['Liu|Yun|Y|0000-0002-6432-7446', 'Miao|Ying-Ling|YL|0000-0002-7645-0812', 'Qin|Feng|F|', 'Cao|Cen|C|', 'Yu|Xiao-Lin|XL|', 'Wu|Yu-Han|YH|', 'Wang|Tian-Lu|TL|', 'Xu|Ruo-Gu|RG|0000-0002-0896-6569', 'Zhao|Liu|L|0000-0001-6008-3707', 'Wu|Fan|F|0000-0002-1261-1410', 'Zhang|Zheng-Chuan|ZC|', 'Yang|Jia-Min|JM|0000-0002-8445-1284', 'Yang|Yang|Y|0000-0002-6899-924X', 'Xie|Xin|X|', 'Zhang|Li-Ming|LM|', 'Deng|Fei-Long|FL|0000-0002-6848-4174']
D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase D000818:Animals D001861:Bone Regeneration D002454:Cell Differentiation D049109:Cell Proliferation D048430:Cell Shape D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells D057139:Nanofibers D010012:Osteogenesis D010455:Peptides D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley D012886:Skull D055114:X-Ray Microtomography D015028:Zein
electrospun zein poly (aspartic acid) osteogenesis