Biocompatibility of functionalized designer self‐assembling nanofiber scaffolds containing FRM motif for neural stem cells

Peptide self-assembling scaffolds have been widely used in tissue engineering. Much work has been focused on modifying the self-assembling scaffolds with functional motifs for desired biological activities. We report here the development of a biological material designed specifically for neural tissue engineering (NTE). Using RADA-16 (AcN-RADARADARADARADA-CONH2) as a base scaffold, we synthesized a 31 amino acid peptide RADA-FRM (AcN-RADARADARADARADAGGSIDRVEPYSSTAQ-CONH2) containing the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM)-derived mimetic peptide FRM (SIDRVEPYSSTAQ), which could undergo self-assembly into a nanofiber scaffold. We tested the characterization of the nanofiber scaffold using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and accessed the rheological properties of FRM-containing nanofiber scaffold (FRM-NS). Then we examined its biocompatibility on neural stem cells (NSCs) from neonatal rats. Regrettably, we found that FRM-NS had no effect on differentiation of NSCs. However, we tested that FRM-NS was noncytotoxic. Furthermore, compared to pure RADA-16 scaffold, we found that the designer self-assembling peptide scaffold containing FRM motif could significantly promote NSCs proliferation and stimulate NSCs migration into the three-dimensional scaffold. Our results indicate that the novel designer peptide scaffold containing FRM had excellent biocompatibility with NSCs and may be useful for central nervous tissue repair.