Engineering Commons^™

Osteogenic Potential Of Poly(Ethylene Glycol)–Poly(Dimethylsiloxane) Hybrid Hydrogels, Dany Munoz Pinto, Andrea Jimenez-Vergara, Yaping Hou, Heather Hayenga, Alejandra Rivas, Melissa Grunlan, Mariah Hahn

Dany J. Munoz Pinto

Growth factors have been shown to be potent mediators of osteogenesis. However, their use in tissue-engineered scaffolds not only can be costly but also can induce undesired responses in surrounding tissues. Thus, the ability to specifically induce osteogenic differentiation in the absence of exogenous growth factors through manipulation of scaffold material properties would be desirable for bone regeneration. Previous research indicates that addition of inorganic or hydrophobic components to organic, hydrophilic scaffolds can enhance multipotent stem cell (MSC) osteogenesis. However, the combined impact of scaffold inorganic content and hydrophobicity on MSC behavior has not been systematically explored, particularly in three-dimensional …