Role of substrate microstructure on osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells

The objective of this work was to investigate the effect of substrate microstructure (planar versus microtubular geometry) on the extent of osteogenic differentiation of bone mesenchymal stem (BMS) cells. For laminated sheets, the BMS cell suspension was seeded on the sheets and cultured in complete osteogenic media. For laminated microtubes, the BMS cell suspension was injected in the tubes and allowed to incubate in osteogenic media. BMS cells cultured in osteon-mimetic microtubes had drastically higher ALPase activity and calcium content, compared to laminated sheets. The data demonstrate that the 3D environment of the microtubes profoundly affects osteogenic differentiation of the BMS cells, compared to the 2D laminated sheets.