Title: 2D DNA nanoporous scaffold promotes osteogenic differentiation of pre-osteoblasts

Abstract:

Biofunctional materials with nanomechanical parameters similar to bone tissue may promote the adherence, migration, proliferation, and differentiation of pre-osteoblasts. In this study, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) nanoporous scaffold (DNA-NPS) was synthesized by the polymerization of rectangular and double-crossover (DX) DNA tiles. The diagonally precise polymerization of nanometer-sized DNA tiles (A + B) through sticky end cohesion gave rise to a micrometer-sized porous giant-sheet material. The synthesized DNA-NPS exhibited a uniformly distributed porosity with a size of 25 ± 20 nm. The morphology, dimensions, sectional profiles, 2-dimensional (2D) layer height, texture, topology, pore size, and mechanical parameters of DNA-NPS have been characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The size and zeta potential of DNA-NPS have been characterized by the zeta sizer. Cell biocompatibility, proliferation, and apoptosis have been evaluated by flow cytometry. The AFM results confirmed that the fabricated DNA-NPS was interconnected and uniformly porous, with a surface roughness of 0.125 ± 0.08035 nm. The elastic modulus of the DNA-NPS was 22.45 ± 8.65 GPa, which was comparable to that of native bone tissue. DNA-NPS facilitated pre-osteoblast adhesion, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation. These findings indicated the potential of 2D DNA-NPS in promoting bone tissue regeneration.

Biography:

Baig, MMFA is a registered Pharmacist and did a PhD in Chemistry. His recent research interest is designing nanomaterials for Biomedical Engineering, Mechano Pharmacology, Developmental Biology, Structural Biology,and Neuroscience. He got his post-doctoral training in Nanomedicine at the Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong. His postdoctoral work was focused on designing DNA-based functional & bio-active nanomaterials to apply in Restorative Dentistry, Oral Microbiology/ Oncology,Regenerative Therapeutics, Stem Cells Research, Drug Delivery, and Molecular Pharmaceutics. He got a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry (Therapeutical Biochemistry) from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University (NJU), China. During his Ph.D., he worked on DNA Nanotechnology, Nano-Therapeutics, Biosensing, Bio-imaging, Diagnostics, and Cellular Biophysics. Previously, He received his Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) and MPhil (Pharmaceutical Chemistry) degrees from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), Multan, Pakistan; where he learned about Biochemistry, Phytochemistry, Pharmacognosy, Biotechnology, Polymers, Organic, Medicinal, Bio-analytical, and Material Chemistry.