Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Block S15#05-PI-03, Singapore 117543.
ACS Nano. 2010 Dec 28;4(12):7717-25. doi: 10.1021/nn102738c. Epub 2010 Nov 30.
In the field of regenerative medicine, human mesenchymal stem cells envisage extremely promising applications, due to their ability to differentiate into a wide range of connective tissue species on the basis of the substrate on which they grow. For the first time ever reported, we investigated the effects of a thin film of pegylated multiwalled carbon nanotubes spray dried onto preheated coverslips in terms of their ability to influence human mesenchymal stem cells' proliferation, morphology, and final differentiation into osteoblasts. Results clearly indicated that the homogeneous layer of functionalized nanotubes did not show any cytotoxicity and accelerated cell differentiation to a higher extent than carboxylated nanotubes or uncoated coverslips, by creating a more viable microenvironment for stem cells. Interestingly, cell differentiation occurred even in the absence of additional biochemical inducing agents, as evidenced by multiple independent criteria at the transcriptional, protein expression, and functional levels. Taken together, these findings suggest that functionalized carbon nanotubes represent a suitable scaffold toward a very selective differentiation into bone.
在再生医学领域，人类间充质干细胞因其在生长基质上能够分化为多种结缔组织而具有非常有前景的应用。我们首次研究了喷雾干燥到预热盖玻片上的聚乙二醇化多壁碳纳米管薄膜对人类间充质干细胞增殖、形态和最终向成骨细胞分化的影响。结果清楚地表明，功能化纳米管的均匀层没有显示出任何细胞毒性，并且比羧化纳米管或未涂覆的盖玻片更能促进细胞分化，为干细胞创造了更具活力的微环境。有趣的是，即使没有额外的生化诱导剂，细胞分化也会发生，这一点在转录、蛋白质表达和功能水平的多个独立标准中都有证明。总之，这些发现表明，功能化碳纳米管是一种非常有前途的骨向分化支架。
