Evaluation of Chitosan Hydrogel for Sustained Delivery of VEGF for Odontogenic Differentiation of Dental Pulp Stem Cells

Figure 6

The sustained release of VEGF from hydrogels promoted the odontogenic differentiation of DPSCs. The results of ALP staining showed that the addition of VEGF protein in the medium and in the hydrogel both increased ALPase activities of DPSCs after 7 days (a1–a4, b1–b4). The sustained release of VEGF in VEGF/CS/β-GP hydrogels elevated the formation of mineralized nodules better than the initial burst release of VEGF in the medium (c1–c4, d1–d4). NC: base culture medium; OM: odontogenic culture medium.