Assessment of the molecular mechanism associated with osteogenic and angiogenic differentiation induced by FeMnSi scaffold

To investigate the molecular mechanism underlying osteogenic and angiogenic differentiation induced by the De-HA scaffold, we conducted an in-depth gene microarray analysis on day 3 of MC3T3-E1 culture. We found that De-HA could enhance the transcription of osteogenic and angiogenic genes by activating FAK and downstream MAPK/ERK signaling to induce MC3T3-E1 differentiation. More importantly, our findings indicated that EGFR, a kind of transmembrane glycoprotein, played a key role in the osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1, suggesting that the activation of the FAK/MAPK/ERK signaling cascade might be driven by EGFR. The scaffold samples were segregated into two groups: the first comprised of the original FeMnSi scaffold, while the second consisted of a De-HA scaffold that had been dealloyed and coated with bioactive materials. MC3T3-E1 were seeded on each scaffold at a density of 1 × 105 per/well in 24-well plates and then cultured for 3 days. An extensive gene microarray analysis was conducted on day 3 of MC3T3-E1 culture.