Tunable electroactive biomimetic bone-like surfaces for bone marrow-on-chips

Electro-stimulation is an effective way to manipulate the presentation of bio-factors at the materials interface. This study aimed to develop electrochemically-modified trabecular bone-like surfaces for manipulation of mesenchymal and hematopoietic cells. The electroactive surface was based on the conducting polymer polypyrrole for dynamic control of the presentation and mineralisation of chondrocyte-derived plasma membrane nanofragments (PMNFs) covalently immobilized on the surface. Electrochemical redox switching resulted in the PMNF-based formation of bone minerals with different morphologies, which further demonstrated to have distinct effects on the survival of mouse bone marrow-derived mesenchymal and hematopoietic cell populations cultured on the surface. This tunable electroactive surface could be a valuable tool for dynamically sensing and/or controlling stem cell functions in more suitable biomimetic microenvironments housing a stem cell niche.