Electroactive degradable copolymers enhancing osteogenic differentiation from bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have attracted great interest in the field of regenerative medicine, particularly in bone regeneration. Osteogenic differentiation from MSCs is regulated by various environmental factors including hormones, growth factors, chemicals and physical cues from biomaterials. We present the use of electroactive degradable copolymers to guide the osteogenic differentiation from bone marrow derived MSCs (BMSCs). The biodegradable conductive copolymers based on polylactide and tunable contents of the aniline oligomer were synthesized by ring opening polymerization and free radical polymerization, and subsequent functionalization with the aniline tetramer. Electroactive nanofibrous scaffolds were created via a thermally induced phase separation technique. The cell culture of BMSCs and MC3T3-E1 cells on electroactive copolymers showed that these copolymers were cytocompatible and the proliferation for both cells was significantly enhanced. Osteogenic differentiation from BMSCs on the electroactive copolymers was promoted compared to polylactide in terms of gene expression and von Kossa staining. Furthermore, protein adsorption on the electroactive copolymer surface was greatly increased, and this may contribute to the enhanced proliferation and differentiation of BMSCs. This is the first report about degradable electroactive polymers directing osteogenic differentiation from BMSCs and the results indicated that electroactive degradable polymers have great potential for application in bone regeneration.