Acrylic acid grafted tamarind kernel polysaccharide-based hydrogel for bone tissue engineering in absence of any osteoinducing factors.

With increased life expectancy, disorders in life style and other clinical conditions, the changes in the connective tissues such as in bone impose a diverse biomedical problems. Such problems are expensive, more serious in old ages and are fatal in certain pathophysiological settings which demands functional and/or artificial bones prepared at low cost. Cells having osteogenic properties and/or belong to osteogenic lineages are extremely specific for their surface requirements. Therefore, suitable surfaces are the critical bottle neck for successful bone tissue engineering. Recently we have reported synthesis of novel hydrogels from low-cost biomaterials. Here we report a hydrogel synthesized from natural polysaccharide, namely Tamarind Kernel Powder which is grafted by Acrylic acid (TKP-AA) that can be used for promoting bone tissue engineering in vitro. This porous and interconnected surface as revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) allows growth of both osteogenic and non-osteogenic cells. Using Saos-2 cell as a model system we demonstrate that this hydrogel enhances differentiation and mineralization of Osteoblasts without addition of exogenous growth factors. This surface enhances expression of Runx2, OPN, ON, and Col-1 mRNA also suggesting that this surface triggers signalling events towards osteogenesis even in the absence of added growth factors. We propose that this material can be used for effective bone tissue engineering in vitro at low cost.