3D-printed near-infrared-light-responsive on-demand drug-delivery scaffold for bone regeneration.

Although several bioactive 3D-printed bone scaffolds loaded with multiple kinds of biomolecules for enhanced bone regeneration have been recently developed, the manipulation of on-demand release profiles of different biomolecules during bone regeneration remains challenging. Herein, a 3D-printed dual-drug-loaded biomimetic scaffold to regulate the host stem cell recruitment and osteogenic differentiation in a two-stage process for bone regeneration was successfully fabricated. First, a chemotactic small-molecule drug, namely, simvastatin (SIM) was directly incorporated into the hydroxyapatite/collagen bioink for printing and could be rapidly released during the early stage of bone regeneration. Further, near-infrared (NIR)-light-responsive polydopamine-coated hydroxyapatite nanoparticles were designed to deliver the osteogenic drug, i.e., pargyline (PGL) in a controllable manner. Together, our scaffold displayed an on-demand sequential release of those two drugs and could optimize their therapeutic effects to align with the stem cell recruitment and osteoblastic differentiation, thereby promoting bone regeneration. The results confirmed the suitable mechanical strength, high photothermal conversion efficiency, good biocompatibility of our scaffold. The scaffold loaded with SIM could efficiently accelerate the migration of stem cells. In addition, the scaffold with on-demand sequential release promoted alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, significantly upregulated gene expression levels of osteogenesis-related markers, and enhanced new-bone-formation capabilities in rabbit cranial defect models. Altogether, this scaffold not only offers a promising strategy to control the behavior of stem cells during bone regeneration but also provides an efficient strategy for controllable sequential release of different biomolecule in bone tissue engineering.

Asymmetrical methyltransferase PRMT3 regulates human mesenchymal stem cell osteogenesis via miR-3648.

Histone arginine methylation, which is catalyzed by protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs), plays a key regulatory role in various biological processes. Several PRMTs are involved in skeletal development; however, their role in the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is not completely clear. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the function of PRMT3, a type-I PRMT that catalyzes the formation of ω-mono- or asymmetric dimethyl arginine, in MSCs osteogenesis. We found that PRMT3 promoted MSCs osteogenic commitment and bone remodeling. PRMT3 activated the expression of miR-3648 by enhancing histone H4 arginine 3 asymmetric dimethylation (H4R3me2a) levels at promoter region of the gene. Overexpression of miR-3648 rescued impaired osteogenesis in PRMT3-deficient cells. Moreover, administration of Prmt3 shRNA or a chemical inhibitor of PRMT3 (SGC707) caused an osteopenia phenotype in mice. These results indicate that PRMT3 is a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of bone regeneration and osteopenia disorders.

Promoted role of bone morphogenetic protein 2/7 heterodimer in the osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells / 北京大学学报(医学版)

Objective:To investigate the role of bone morphogenetic protein 2/7 heterodimer (BMP-2/7)in the osteogenesis of human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs).Methods:hASCs were exposed to three different treatments in vitro:osteogenic medium with 1 50 μg/L BMP-2/7 (experimental group), osteogenic medium alone (OM group)and proliferation medium (PM group).After 1 ,4 and 7 days of osteogenic induction,the amount of cellular DNA was measured to investigate the cytotoxicity.After 7 and 1 4 days,alkaline phosphatase (ALP)staining and quantification were performed to test the activity of ALP.After 21 and 28 days,the calcification deposition was determined by Alizarin Red S (ARS)stai-ning and quantification.The expressions of the osteoblast-related genes were tested on days 1 ,4,7 and 1 4.In the in vivo study,6 nude mice were used and 4 groups were set and implanted subcutaneously into the back of nude mice:(1 )β-TCP scaffold only (scaffold control group );(2 )β-TCP scaffold with hASCs cultured by PMin vitro for 1 week (PMcontrol group);(3)β-TCP scaffold with hASCs cultured by OM in vitro for 1 week (OM control group);(4)β-TCP scaffold with hASCs cultured by OM with 1 50 μg/L BMP-2/7 in vitro for 1 week (test group).After 4 weeks of implantation,histological staining was performed to evaluate the in vivo osteogenesis of hASCs.Results:After induction for 1 day,there was no significant difference between the experimental group and the PM group on the cellular DNA con-tent (P>0.05 ).After 4 days,the cellular DNA content increased under the stimulation of BMP-2/7 (P0.05).ALP ac-tivity was higher by the induction of BMP-2/7 than in OMalone and PM(P<0.05).More mineraliza-tion deposition and more expressions of osteoblast-related genes such as Runx2,ALP,COL-1 A1 and OC were determined in the experimental group at different time points (P<0.05).HE staining showed that, in the test group and OM control group,the extracellular matrix (ECM)with eosinophilic staining were observed around hASCs,and newly-formed bone-like tissues could be found in ECM around the scaffold materials.Moreover,compared with the OM control group,more bone-like tissues could be observed in ECMwith typical structure of bone tissue in the test group.Masson’s trichrome staining showed that more expression of collagen could be observed in ECM in the test group compared with the other groups.There was small amount of expression of collagen in the OM and PM control groups.No obvious positive results were found in the scaffold group.Conclusion:BMP-2/7 heterodimer plays a significant role in the osteo-genesis of hASCs and is able to enhance the osteogenic differentiation of hASCs in vitro and in vivo.