Time-Dependent Effect of Encapsulating Alginate Hydrogel on Neurogenic Potential

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Anatomical Sciences and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

2 Department of Genetic, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Objective
Due to the restricted potential of neural stem cells for regeneration of central nervous system (CNS) after injury, providing an alternative source for neural stem cells is essential. Adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) are multipotent cells with properties suitable for tissue engineering. In addition, alginate hydrogel is a biocompatible polysaccharide polymer that has been used to encapsulate many types of cells. The aim of this study was to assess the proliferation rate and level of expression of neural markers; NESTIN, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) in encapsulated human ADSCs (hADSCs) 10 and14 days after neural induction.
Materials and Methods
In this experimental study, ADSCs isolated from human were cultured in neural induction media and seeded into alginate hydrogel. The rate of proliferation and differentiation of encapsulated cells were evaluated by 3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, immunocytoflourescent and realtime reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyzes 10 and 14 days after induction.
Results
The rate of proliferation of encapsulated cells was not significantly changed with time passage. The expression of NESTIN and GFAP significantly decreased on day 14 relative to day 10 (P < 0.001) but MAP2 expression was increased.
Conclusion
Alginate hydrogel can promote the neural differentiation of encapsulated hADSCs with time passage.

Keywords