Sains Malaysiana 50(1)(2021): 239-251

http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2021-5001-23

Effect of Sulfur on Nitrogen-Containing Plasma Polymers in Promoting Osteogenic Differentiation of Wharton’s Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells

(Kesan Sulfur ke atas Polimer Plasma yang Mengandungi Nitrogen dalam Mempromosi Pembezaan Osteogen Sel Stem Mesenkima Jeli Wharton)

KIM SHYONG SIOW¹*, ARIFAH RAHMAN¹, AMNANI AMINUDDIN² & PEI YUEN NG²

¹Institute of Microengineering and Nanoelectronics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

²Drug and Herbal Research Centre, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory, Malaysia

Received: 11 April 2020/Accepted: 14 June 2020

ABSTRACT

The role of sulfur and its synergistic effects with nitrogen moieties in mediating stem cell proliferation and differentiation has become of interest to the tissue engineering community due to chemical similarities with the glycosaminoglycans found in human tissues and cells. Glycosaminoglycans are biomolecules known to influence stem cell differentiation, but the roles of sulfur with different oxidation states on nitrogen-containing polymers have not been fully understood nor investigated. In this study, we used the plasma polymerization of 1,7-octadiene (ppOD), n-heptylamine (ppHA), ppHA grafted with vinyl-sulfonate via Michael-type addition (ppHA-SO₃), thiophene (ppT), and ppT with air plasma treatment (ppT-air) to produce controlled amounts of nitrogen and sulfur moieties having different oxidation states, as confirmed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Assays of the proliferation and osteogenic activities of Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) showed the highest activities for ppHA, followed by ppHA-SO₃, due to high percentages of amines/amides and the absence of SO₃ moieties in ppHA. Other plasma polymers showed less proliferation and osteogenic differentiation than the positive control (glass substrate); however, WJ-MSCs grown on ppT-air with its high percentages of SO₄ displayed cytoskeletons intensified with actin stress fiber, unlike the thiol-dominated ppT. Finally, the presence of methyl groups in ppOD severely limited WJ-MSCs proliferation and differentiation. Overall, these results confirm the beneficial effects of amine/amide groups on WJ-MSCs proliferation and osteogenic differentiation, but the combination of these groups with sulfur of various oxidation states failed to further enhance such cellular activities.

Keywords: Amine-amide; osteogenic differentiation; plasma polymerization; plasma treatment; sulfonate-sulfate

ABSTRAK

Peranan sulfur dan kesan sinerginya dengan molekul nitrogen dalam pertumbuhan dan pembezaan sel stem telah mendapat perhatian komuniti kejuruteraan tisu kerana persamaan kimianya dengan glikosaminoglikan yang terdapat di dalam tisu dan sel manusia. Glikosaminoglikan dikenali sebagai biomolekul yang dapat mempengaruhi pembezaan sel stem. Walau bagaimanapun, peranan sulfur yang mempunyai tahap pengoksidaan yang berbeza di dalam polimer yang mengandungi nitrogen masih kurang difahami. Justeru, kajian ini menggunakan pempolimeran plasma 1,7-oktadiena (ppOD), n-heptilamina (ppHA), ppHA yang dicantum dengan vinil-sulfonat melalui penambahan Michael (ppHA-SO₃), tiofena (ppT) dan ppT dengan rawatan plasma udara (ppT-udara) untuk menghasilkan moieti nitrogen dan sulfur yang mempunyai keadaan pengoksidaan yang berbeza yang dikenal pasti dengan spektroskopi fotoelektron x-ray. ppHA menunjukkan aktiviti pertumbuhan dan pembahagian osteogen sel stem mesenkima jeli Wharton (WJ-MSC) yang paling tinggi diikuti oleh ppHA-SO₃. Keputusan ini berpunca daripada kandungan peratusan amina/amida yang tinggi dan ketiadaan moieti SO₃ dalam salutan ppHA. Manakala, polimer plasma lain menunjukkan aktiviti pertumbuhan dan pembahagian osteogen WJ-MSC yang rendah berbanding dengan kawalan positif (substrat kaca). Walau bagaimanapun, ppT-udara yang mengandungi peratusan SO₄ yang tinggi menunjukkan pertumbuhan WJ-MSC dengan sitoskeletonnya diperkuat dengan gentian tegangan aktin berbanding dengan ppT yang mempunyai kandungan tiol yang tinggi. Selain itu, ppOD menunjukkan pengurangan yang ketara dalam aktiviti pertumbuhan dan pembahagian osteogen WJ-MSC disebabkan oleh kehadiran kumpulan metil. Secara keseluruhannya, kajian ini membuktikan bahawa kumpulan amina/amida mampu memberi kesan yang positif dalam pertumbuhan dan pembahagian osteogen WJ-MSC. Namun demikian, kombinasi kumpulan amina/amida dengan sulfur yang mengandungi pelbagai keadaan pengoksidaan gagal untuk meningkatkan  akitiviti sel.

Kata kunci: Amina-amida; pembahagian osteogen; pempolimeran plasma; rawatan plasma; sulfonat-sulfat

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*Corresponding author; email: kimsiow@ukm.edu.my