Pacific Rim Symposium on Surfaces, Coatings and Interfaces (PacSurf 2018)
    Biomaterial Surfaces & Interfaces Monday Sessions
       Session BI-MoM

Paper BI-MoM10
Multi-Functional Polyampholyte Hydrogels with Covalently Attached SIBLING Proteins for Bone Tissue Engineering

Monday, December 3, 2018, 11:00 am, Room Naupaka Salon 6-7

Session: 35 Years of NESAC/BIO I
Presenter: Matthew Bernards, University of Idaho
Authors: M.T. Bernards, University of Idaho
S.L. Haag, University of Idaho
E.M. Mariner, University of Idaho
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In the ten years since leaving the NESAC/BIO, the Bernards group has focused on developing polyampholyte polymers for biomedical applications due to their unique multi-functional properties. Polyampholyte polymers resist nonspecific protein adsorption, while being able to covalently attach biomolecules. The physical properties (mechanical, degradation, etc.) of these polymers are also tunable by changing their underlying chemistry. Therefore, polyampholyte hydrogels represent a promising platform technology. In this presentation we will cover the development of these polymers for biomedical applications and present recent efforts to understand the degradation behavior of polyampholyte hydrogels as a function of chemistry, while also applying this platform technology for bone tissue engineering. Specifically a polyampholyte hydrogel composed of equimolar mixtures of [2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride (TMA) and 2-carboxyethyl acrylate (CAA) is being pursued as a bone tissue scaffold. This hydrogel scaffold is being used as a delivery platform for individual members of the SIBLING (small integrin binding N-linked glycoprotein) family of proteins. SIBLING proteins are the primary non-collagenous proteins found in mineralized tissue and they all contain a cell binding RGD amino acid sequence, a collagen binding domain, and a hydroxyapatite binding domain. This family includes seven proteins or protein cleavage products. Following hydrogel synthesis, individual SIBLING proteins are conjugated to the hydrogel using EDC/NHS chemistry. The initial MC3T3-E1 osteoblast recruitment was investigated using 2-hour cell adhesion assays and the short-term response of the cells was investigated following 24 hours of culture. Hydrogels with conjugated osteopontin exhibited the highest cell recruitment after 2 hours, so polyampholyte hydrogels with conjugated OPN were also used in primary synoviocyte and primary bone marrow derived connective tissue progenitor cell studies. Characterizations with the primary cells include an evaluation of the initial stages of bone matrix production and cell differentiation. The results presented throughout this presentation demonstrate the promising potential for polyampholyte hydrogels in bone tissue engineering applications and beyond.