| Introduction: Hydrogels are unique candidates
for a wide range of biomedical applications
including drug delivery and tissue engineering.
The present investigation was designed to
consider the impact of chitosan-based hydrogels
as a scaffold on the proliferation of human bone
marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBM-MSCs)
besides neutralization of oxidative stress in hBMMSCs.
Methods: Chitosan (CS) and CS-gelatin hydrogels were fabricated through ionic crosslinking
using β-glycerophosphate. The hBM-MSCs were cultured on the prepared matrices and their
proliferation was evaluated using DAPI staining and MTT assay. Furthermore, the effect of
hydrogels on oxidative stress was assessed by measuring the expression of NQO1, Nrf2, and HO-1
genes using real-time PCR.
Results: The developed hydrogels indicated a porous structure with high water content. The toxicity
studies showed that the prepared hydrogels have a high biocompatibility/cytocompatibility. The
expression of intracellular antioxidant genes was studied to ensure that stress is not imposed by
the scaffold on the nested cells. The results showed that Nrf2 as a super transcription factor of
antioxidant genes and its downstream antioxidant gene, NQO1 were downregulated. Unexpectedly,
the upregulation of HO-1 was detected in the current study.
Conclusion: The prepared CS-based hydrogels with desired properties including porous structure,
high swelling ability, and cytocompatibility did not show oxidative stress for the nesting of stem
cells. Therefore, they could be attractive scaffolds to support stem cells for successful tissue
engineering purposes. |