Certification of Gibroblase Cell Adhesion and Spreading Mediated by Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) Sequence on Thermo-Reversible Hydrogel

In an effort to regulate the mammalian cell behavior in entrapment with a gel, we have functionalized hydrogels with the putative cell-binding (-Arg-Gly-Asp-)(RGD) domain. An adhesion molecule of Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (GRGDS) peptides, a cell recognition ligand, was induced into thermo-reversible hydrogels, composed of N-isopropylacrylamide with small amounts of acrylic acid (typically 2-5 $mol\%$ in feed), as a biomimetic extracellular matrix (ECM). The GRGDS containing a p(NiPAAm-co-AAc) copolymer gel was studied in vitro for its ability to promote the spreading and viability of cells by introducing a GRGDS sequence. Hydrogel with no adhesion molecule was a poor ECM for adhesion, permiting spreading of only $3\%$ of the seeded cells for 36h. By immobilizing the peptide linkage into the hydrogel, the conjugation of RGD promoted $50\%$ of proliferation for 36h. However, the GREDS sequence, nonadhesive peptide linkage, conjugated hydrogel showed only $5\%$ of the seeded cell for the same time period. In addition, with the serum-free medium, only GRGDS peptides conjugated to hydrogel was able to promotecell spreading, while there was no cell proliferation in the hydrogel without GRGDS. Thus, the GRGDS peptide-conjugated thermo-reversible hydrogel specifically mediated the cell spreading. This result suggests that utilization of peptide sequences conjugating with the cell-adhesive motifs can enhance the degree of cell surface interaction and influence the long-term formation of ECM in vitro.