Photoencapsulated-BMP2 in visible light-cured thiol-acrylate hydrogels for craniofacial bone tissue engineering.

Aim: The study aimed to examine the impact of crosslinking BMP2 in biodegradable visible light-cured thiol-acrylate hydrogels. Materials & methods: BMP2 was photoencapsulated in 10 wt% PEG-diacrylate hydrogels with or without immortalized mouse bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC). Results & conclusion: Photoencapsulated-BMSC with BMP2 (BMBMP2) showed a significantly (p < 0.05) increased level in metabolic activity, by 54.61%, compared with photoencapsulated-BMSC at day 3. Furthermore, BMBMP2 groups showed significantly increased levels in ALP activity compared with BMSC at days, 1, 3, 7 (p < 0.01) and 10 (p < 0.05). This study shows promising results photoencapsulating BMP2 in thiol-acrylate hydrogels for craniofacial bone tissue engineering applications.