Dose-dependent enhancement of bone marrow stromal cells adhesion, spreading and osteogenic differentiation on atmospheric plasma-treated poly(L-lactic acid) nanofibers

Although poly(L-lactic acid) nanofibers are known to promote osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells, their relative hydrophobicity and surface inertia tend to hinder their biomedical application. We explored a feasible and effective technique to improve the bioactivity and biocompatibility of poly(L-lactic acid) fibers for further application in regenerative medicine. A low-temperature atmospheric plasma was used to treat poly(L-lactic acid) nanofibers for 1, 5, and 10 min, and the surface properties and dose-dependent effects on the behavior of bone marrow stromal cells were studied. Both the amino group content and surface hydrophilicity of the nanofibers increased with treatment time, whereas the spreading and proliferation of bone marrow stromal cells were greatest on nanofibers which had been treated for 5 min, followed by samples treated for 1 and 10 min. The quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction analysis of the bone marrow stromal cells on the 5-min-treated nanofibers had the highest expression level of osteogenic marker genes including RUNX2, BMP2, ALP, COL1A1, OPN, and OCN. The nanofibers treated for 5 min also promoted the high levels of alkaline phosphatase activity. These results suggest the exertion of dose-dependent effects by atmospheric plasma treatment on the surface of poly(L-lactic acid) nanofibers, and that this treatment is a feasible and effective technique to improve biomaterial biocompatibility and promotion of osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells.