Control of adhesion, focal adhesion assembly, and differentiation of myoblasts by enzymatically crosslinked cell-interactive hydrogels

Abstract

The development of an artificial matrix is critical as both a substrate to control the cell behavior and as a tool for examining the roles of cellular microenvironment in biology. This study developed cell-interactive hydrogels containing a Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptide, cross-linked via bio-inspired enzymatic processes using H2O2 and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as the initiators and examined how they controlled myoblast functions. The cell-interactive hydrogels modulated the adhesion and proliferation of myoblast, depending on the peptide density. Furthermore, the expression of focal adhesion proteins and myogenic differentiation were up-regulated significantly in myoblasts cultured on peptide-incorporated hydrogels. Therefore, the novel hydrogel system can be used to regulate the cell function for many tissue engineering applications.