Self-Assembled\nDNA–Collagen Bioactive Scaffolds\nPromote Cellular Uptake and Neuronal Differentiation

Different modalities of DNA/collagen complexes have been\nutilized\nprimarily for gene delivery studies. However, very few studies have\ninvestigated the potential of these complexes as bioactive scaffolds.\nFurther, no studies have characterized the DNA/collagen complex formed\nfrom the interaction of the self-assembled DNA macrostructure and\ncollagen. Toward this investigation, we report herein the fabrication\nof novel bioactive scaffolds formed from the interaction of sequence-specific,\nself-assembled DNA macrostructure and collagen type I. Varying molar\nratios of DNA and collagen resulted in highly intertwined fibrous\nscaffolds with different fibrillar thicknesses. The formed scaffolds\nwere biocompatible and presented as a soft matrix for cell growth\nand proliferation. Cells cultured on DNA/collagen scaffolds promoted\nthe enhanced cellular uptake of transferrin, and the potential of\nDNA/collagen scaffolds to induce neuronal cell differentiation was\nfurther investigated. The DNA/collagen scaffolds promoted neuronal\ndifferentiation of precursor cells with extensive neurite growth in\ncomparison to the control groups. These novel, self-assembled DNA/collagen\nscaffolds could serve as a platform for the development of various\nbioactive scaffolds with potential applications in neuroscience, drug\ndelivery, tissue engineering, and in vitro cell culture.