(256af) A Proliferation Switch of Fibroblasts in Alginate Microcapsules By in Situ Conjugation of RGD Peptides

Extracellular matrix (ECM)
greatly affects proliferation, differentiation, and functions of cells. Chemical
composition and structure of ECM dynamically changes during many physiological
and pathological processes such as development of embryos, wound healing, and
tumor growth. In order to mimic these dynamics, we newly developed clickable
alginate microcapsules, which can introduce thiol-containing peptides by in situ conjugation between maleimide
and thiol groups. In fact, encapsulated fibroblast cells started proliferation
by in situ conjugation of CRGDS,
while free RGDS did not show any effect. In tissue engineering, accurate and economic
methods for induction of differentiation of stem cells are required. We expect
that these microcapsules can be utilized for future cell differentiation
process.

Fig 1. Schematic illustration of a clickable microcapsule. Malieimide-modified alginate microcapsules crosslinked with
calcium ions can encapsulate NIH-3T3 fibroblast cells, which started proliferation
by the stimuli of in situ conjugation
of RGDS with maleimide residues of alginate matrix.