Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate osteogenic effect of collagen/bioglass composites loaded with a small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting noggin. METHODS: The collagen/bioglass composites loaded with the negative control siRNA or noggin siRNA were prepared by freeze-drying method. CCK8 test was used to evaluate the proliferation of MC3T3 cells exposed to the aqueous extracts of collagen/bioglass composites and the siRNA-loaded collagen/bioglass composites. ALP activity assay, quantitative real-time PCR and Alizarin Red staining were used to assess the effect of the 3 composites on mineralization in MC3T3 cells. RESULTS: MC3T3 cells cultured for 3 and 5 days in the presence of the extracts of the 3 composites all showed significantly more active proliferation than the blank control cells (P < 0.05). Compared with the cells seeded on the scaffold without siRNA, MC3T3 cells seeded on collagen/bioglass scaffold loaded with noggin siRNA showed a significantly higher ALP activity at 14 days after seeding (P < 0.05) with significantly increased expression of ALP, Runx2 and BSP mRNAs (P < 0.05). Alizarin Red staining showed that the cells seeded on the noggin siRNA-loading collagen/bioglass scaffold contained significantly more mineralized nodules than the other cells (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The collagen/bioglass composites loaded with noggin siRNA have a good biocompatibility, and the collagen/bioglass composites and noggin siRNA show a synergistic effect in promoting osteogenesis.