Medical/biological study (experimental study)

Low frequency magnetic force augments hepatic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells on a biomagnetic nanofibrous scaffold med./bio.

By: Bishi DK, Guhathakurta S, Venugopal JR, Cherian KM, Ramakrishna S

Published in: J Mater Sci Mater Med 2014; 25 (11): 2579-2589

The effects of exposure of human mesenchymal stem cells to a 50 Hz magnetic field grown on a nanofibrous scaffold on hepatic differentiation should be investigated. A possible therapeutic use for the treatment of hepatic diseases via tissue engineering should be examined.

Cell differentiation was induced by the addition of different growth factors.
Cells were divided into the following groups: 1) cells with growth factors exposed to the magnetic field and cultivated on nanofibrous scaffold, 2) non-exposed cells with growth factors cultivated on nanofibrous scaffold, 3) non-exposed cells with growth factors cultivated on polystyrenes scaffolds, 4) non-exposed cells without growth factors cultivated on nanofibrous scaffold, 5) non-exposed cells without growth factors cultivated on polystyrenes scaffold.
HepG2 cells were used as positive control in the test on the amount of inducible cytochrome P450.
All experiments were performed in triplicates.

Exposure	Parameters
Exposure 1: 50 Hz Exposure duration: continuous for 28 days	magnetic flux density: 60 mT

Exposure source	solenoid
Chamber	culture flasks
Setup	a solenoid iron coil was placed inside an incubator with 5% CO₂ and 37°C; the culture flasks were placed over the magnetic field generator

Measurand	Value	Type	Method	Mass	Remarks
magnetic flux density	60 mT	-	-	-	-

Exposed system:

Investigated system:

Time of investigation:

Morphologically, more polygonal shaped cells, representative for hepatic morphology, were found in group 1 (growth factors, MF, nanofibrous scaffold) than in group 2 (growth factors, no MF, nanofibrous scaffold) and group 3 (growth factors, no MF, polystyrenes scaffold).
Immunofluorescence staining confirmed these results by showing the highest protein expression of hepatocyte specific markers in group 1, a scanty protein expression in groups 2 and 3, and no protein expression in groups without growth factors (groups 4 and 5).
The amounts of albumin and urea were significantly increased in group 1 compared to groups 2 and 3 (groups 4 and 5 did not show any presence of albumin or urea) and likewise, group 1 showed the highest amount of inducible cytochrome P450.
The authors conclude that exposure of human mesenchymal stem cells to a 50 Hz magnetic field grown on the nanofibrous scaffold might augment the hepatic differentiation.

Study character:

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