Proliferation and differentiation of adipose stem cells towards smooth muscle cells on poly(trimethylene carbonate) membranes

Multipotent human adipose stem cells (hASCs) are an abundant and potential source of cells for vascular tissue engineering when combined with a suitable biomaterial scaffold. Poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) has been shown to be a useful biodegradable material for tissue engineered vascular grafts due to its flexibility, excellent biocompatibility and enzymatic degradation by surface erosion in vivo. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the proliferation and differentiation of hASCs towards smooth muscle cells (SMCs) on gamma-crosslinked and photo-crosslinked PTMC membranes. PTMC macromers were functionalized with methacrylate end groups and crosslinked by UV initiated radical polymerization. High molecular weight linear PTMC was crosslinked by gamma irradiation. Cell viability, cell numbers and SMC differentiation of hASCs were evaluated on the differently crosslinked PTMC films at 7 and 14 days (d). On the photo-crosslinked membranes, homogenous monolayers of hASC were detected by live/dead assay. Consistently, cells on the photo-crosslinked membranes had significantly higher cell numbers compared to cells on the gamma-crosslinked membranes after 14 d of culture. SMC specific genes were expressed on both membranes at 14 d. Photo-crosslinked membranes showed higher expression of SMC specific proteins at 14 d compared to gamma-crosslinked membranes. These results suggest that especially the photo-crosslinked PTMC membranes are suitable for vascular tissue engineering applications when combined with hASCs.