# The role of elasticity of biomaterials on the stem cell-host immune cell interplay

> **NIH NIH R03** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2020 · $156,000

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Craniofacial bone tissue engineering has been extensively accomplished using bone grafting procedures.
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising alternative treatment modality for bone regeneration. MSCs
derived from orofacial tissues (e.g. gingival mesenchymal stem cells (GMSCs)) are attractive postnatal stem
cells with self-renewal and multilineage differentiation capacities and superior osteogenic properties compared
to bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs). It is well known that biomaterials can be used to direct the
fate of stem cells. However, controlling the fate of the transplanted stem cells is still a major challenge.
Understanding the factors influencing the fate of encapsulating MSCs is of major therapeutic interest.
Physiomechanical properties such as elasticity of the hydrogel biomaterial have been shown to be a vital factor
influencing MSC differentiation, but their role on the MSC-host immune system is fairly unknown. To develop
effective MSC- based regenerative therapies it is crucial to have a clear understanding of how the encapsulating
hydrogel biomaterial elasticity affect the MSCs-host immune system interplay and immunoregulatory properties
of MSCs. Therefore, the main objectives of this proposal are to (1) to explore the role of the elasticity of alginate
hydrogel, as an encapsulating scaffold, in MSCs-T cells interplay and the detailed mechanism underlying the
MSC immunomodulation.; and (2) To Investigate the role of elasticity of the encapsulating biomaterial on MSC-
T cell interplay in the MSC-mediated bone tissue engineering. The central hypothesis of this proposal is that the
elasticity of alginate hydrogel regulates the MSCs-host immune cells (T-cells)/ cytokines interplay, therefore,
direct the fate of the encapsulated MSCs. Also, it is hypothesized that hydrogel elasticity can control the
immunoregulatory function of the encapsulated MSCs, therefore, further regulates the microenvironment. Upon
successful completion of the Specific Aims, this project will improve our understanding of the critical role of the
biomaterials physiomechanical properties on MSC survival and fate determination. Moreover, it significantly
improves our knowledge on how the matrix elasticity modulates MSCs' immunomodulatory properties.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10041630
- **Project number:** 1R03DE029876-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Alireza Moshaverinia
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $156,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10041630

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10041630, The role of elasticity of biomaterials on the stem cell-host immune cell interplay (1R03DE029876-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10041630. Licensed CC0.

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