RGD Peptide-displaying M13 Bacteriophage/PLGA Nanofibers as Cell-adhesive Matrices for Smooth Muscle Cells

Extracellular matrices (ECMs) are network structures that play an essential role in regulatingcellular growth and differentiation. In this study, novel nanofibrous matrices were fabricated byelectrospinning M13 bacteriophage and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and were shown to bestructurally and functionally similar to natural ECMs. A genetically-engineered M13 bacteriophagewas constructed to display Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptides on its surface. The physicochemical propertiesof RGD peptide-displaying M13 bacteriophage (RGD-M13 phage)/PLGA nanofibers werecharacterized by using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. We used immunofluorescence staining to confirm that M13 bacteriophages were homogenously distributedin RGD-M13 phage/PLGA matrices. Furthermore, RGD-M13 phage/PLGA nanofibrousmatrices, having excellent biocompatibility, can enhance the behaviors of vascular smooth musclecells. This result suggests that RGD-M13 phage/PLGA nanofibrous matrices have potentials toserve as tissue engineering scaffolds.