Significance
A fast, reliable and safe regeneration of vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMCs) from stem cell differentiation is promising for vascular tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications, but remains challenging. Herein, a photo-click hydrogel platform is devised to recapitulate the stiffness of vascular tissue and appropriate presentation of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) to guide vSMC commitment from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). We demonstrate that such concomitant method drastically enhanced regeneration of mature, functional vSMCs from MSCs in vitro and in vivo within only a 3-days span. This work is not only of fundamental scientific importance, revealing how physiochemical factors and the manner of their presentation direct stem cell differentiation, but also attacks the long-standing difficulty in regenerating highly functional vSMCs within a short period.
Statement of significance
A fast, reliable and safe regeneration of vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMCs) from stem cell differentiation is promising for vascular tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications, but remains challenging. Herein, a photo-click hydrogel platform is devised to recapitulate the stiffness of vascular tissue and appropriate presentation of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) to guide vSMC commitment from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). We demonstrate that such concomitant method drastically enhanced regeneration of mature, functional vSMCs from MSCs in vitro and in vivo within only a 3-days span. This work is not only of fundamental scientific importance, revealing how physiochemical factors and the manner of their presentation direct stem cell differentiation, but also attacks the long-standing difficulty in regenerating highly functional vSMCs within a short period.