Coating 3D-printed bioceramics with histatin promotes adhesion and osteogenesis of stem cells.

Mesenchymal stem cell and 3D printing-based bone tissue engineering present a promising technique to repair large-volume bone defects. Its success is highly dependent on cell attachment, spreading, osteogenic differentiation and in-vivo survival of stem cells on 3D printed scaffolds. In this study, we adopted a human salivary histatin-1 (Hst1) as a cell-targeting strategy to enhance the interactions of human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) on 3D printed β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) scaffolds. Fluorescent images showed that Hst1 significantly enhanced the total numbers and surface area of hASCs on both bio-inert glass and 3D printed β-TCP scaffold. In addition, Hst1 was associated with significantly higher proliferation, alkaline phosphate staining on 3D printed β-TCP scaffolds than the control. Subsequently, the small animal imaging showed that the fluorescent densities of the Hst1-treated hASC/3D printed TCP constructs were always significantly higher than those of the control. The specific inhibitors of ERK and p38 but not JNK signaling significantly inhibited the adhesion of hASCs. Hst1 promoted total fluorescent intensities of talin, vinculin and paxillin per cell. In conclusion, Hst1 could significantly promote the adhesion, spreading, osteogenic differentiation and in-vivo survival of hASCs on 3D printed β-TCP scaffolds, bearing a promising application potential in stem cell/3D printing-based bone tissue engineering.