Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human umbilical cord MSCs (hUCMSCs) are exciting cell sources for use in regenerative medicine. 0.1). Mineralization by hiPSC-MSCs, hESC-MSCs and hUCMSCs in CPC at 14 d was 13-fold that at 1 d. In conclusion, all three types of cells (hiPSC-MSCs, hESC-MSCs and hUCMSCs) in CPC scaffold showed high potential for bone tissue engineering, and the novel injectable CPC construct with cell-encapsulating hydrogel fibers is promising to enhance bone regeneration in dental, craniofacial and orthopedic applications. of 0.05. All data were expressed as the mean value one standard deviation (SD). 3. Results The CAF fiber diameter (mean sd; = 50) was measured to be (220 28) m. The injectability results of CPC containing these fibers are plotted in Fig. 1: (A) Percentage of paste extruded, and (B) injection force (mean sd; ENMD-2076 = 6). In (A), nearly all the CPC paste in the syringe was smoothly extruded, and there was no significant difference between all the groups ( ENMD-2076 0.1). In (B), while all the injection forces were relatively small, the forces for the other groups were significantly higher compared to CPC control ( 0.05). Adding chitosan and suture fibers increased the injection force ( 0.05). The maximum injection force for group 7 was (43.1 7.9) N, which was still relatively small and could be readily performed manually by surgeons. These results demonstrate that all these CPC pastes were injectable. Open in a separate window 1 Injectability of CPC-CAF pastes: (A) Percentage of paste extruded, and (B) injection force (mean sd; = 6). CAF: cell-encapsulating alginate-fibrin fibers. CN: chitosan. SU: suture fibers. In (A), all values were not significantly ENMD-2076 different from each other ( 0.1). In (B), bars indicated by different letters are significantly different ( 0.05). The mechanical properties of CPC are plotted in Fig. 2: (A) Typical load-displacement curves, (B) flexural strength, and (C) elastic modulus (mean sd; = 6). In (A), load-displacement curves are shown for CPC-15CN-CAF and CPC-15CN-CAF-SU as examples. Other materials had similar fracture behavior except with smaller peak loads at failure. Adding chitosan and suture enhanced the strength ( 0.05). CPC-15CN-CAF-SU had the highest strength of (8.5 0.8) MPa, which was more than 3-fold that of CPC control ( 0.05). The three bars on the right side indicate the strengths of cancellous bone and other injectable carriers for cell delivery reported in the literature. Elastic moduli of the modified CPCs were lower than CPC control because CPC was ENMD-2076 brittle and stiff, while chitosan and suture were flexible. These results demonstrate that CPC-15CN-CAF-SU had mechanical properties exceeding those of cancellous bone and previous injectable cell carriers. Open in a separate window 2 Mechanical properties of CPC-CAF constructs: (A) Typical load-displacement curves, (B) flexural strength, and (B) elastic modulus (mean sd; = 6). Load-displacement curves are shown for CPC-15CN-CAF and CPC-15CN-CAF-SU as examples. In (B and C), bars indicated by different letters are significantly different from each other ( 0.05). Previously-reported values for cancellous bone, injectable cell-encapsulating polymer, and hydrogels are indicated by the three bars on the right side. Fig. 3 shows hiPSC-MSCs encapsulated in hydrogel fibers without CPC and without injection, and hiPSC-MSCs mixed in CPC Rabbit Polyclonal to GRP94 paste and injected: (A-B) cell live/dead staining images, (C) percentage of live cells, and (D) live cell density (mean sd; = 6). The images for the other two types of cells were similar. Live/dead staining images showed.