Effects of electromagnetic stimulation on calcified matrix production by SAOS-2 cells over a polyurethane porous scaffold

There is increasing interest in designing new biomaterials that could potentially be used in the form of scaffolds as bone substitutes. In this study we used a hydrophobic crosslinked polyurethane in a typical tissue-engineering approach, that is, the seeding and in vitro culturing of cells using a porous scaffold. Using an electromagnetic bioreactor (magnetic field intensity, 2 mT; frequency, 75 Hz), we investigated the effect of the electromagnetic stimulation on SAOS-2 human osteoblast proliferation and calcified matrix production. Cell proliferation was twice as high; expression of decorin, osteocalcin, osteopontin, type I collagen, and type III collagen was greater (1.3, 12.2, 12.1, 10.0, and 10.5 times as great, respectively); and calcium deposition was 5 times as great as under static conditions without electromagnetic stimulation. RT-PCR analysis revealed the electromagnetically upregulated transcription specific for decorin, fibronectin, osteocalcin, osteopontin, transforming growth factor-beta, type I collagen, and type III collagen. The immunolocalization of the extracellular matrix constituents showed their colocalization in the cell-rich areas. The bioreactor and the polyurethane foam were designed to obtain cell colonization and calcified matrix deposition. This cultured biomaterial could be used, in clinical applications, as an osteoinductive implant for bone repair.