Table 3.

The properties of biomaterials affecting the function of MSCs

Biomaterial properties	Biomaterial	MSCs Source	Experiment model	MSCs function	References
Dimensionality	3D alginate micro-encapsulation versus 2D TCP	Human bone marrow	In vitro coculture with rat hippocampal slice	Reduced TNF-α and enhanced PGE-2 in the coculture slice	[108]
	3D alginate hydrogel versus 2D TCP	Human adipose tissue	In vitro	Enhanced potential of suppressing the proliferation of PBMCs	[109]
	HA hydrogel encapsulation versus free cells	Rat bone marrow	In vivo implantation into rat SCI model	Encapsulated MSCs reduced M1 macrophages	[110]
Stiffness	Fibrin hydrogel	Human bone marrow	In vitro	Changed elastic modulus of hydrogel and protein secretion levels of VEGF and PGE-2 by MSCs	[111]
	Electrospun PCL fibrous scaffolds with random, aligned, and mesh-like fiber alignment	Rat adipose tissue	In vitro	MSCs on mesh-like fibers had the greatest potential of immunomodulation	[112]
Topographical cues: fiber alignment	Electrospun PLLA fibrous scaffolds with random or aligned fiber alignment	Human adipose tissue	In vitro	MSCs on aligned fibers had enhanced expression and secretion level of TSG-6 and COX-2	[113]
	Ti-alloy disks with macro–micro-nanoscale-roughened surface or smooth surface	Human	In vitro	MSCs on rough surface had reduced secretion levels of proinflammatory gene expression	[114]
Topographical cues: surface roughness	Biphasic calcium phosphate bioceramics with micro-nanoscale-roughened surface or smooth surface	Mouse bone marrow	In vitro	MSCs on rough surface had reduced expression levels of proinflammatory cytokines	[115]
Topographical cues: surface structure	Thermoplastic polyurethane plates with grid-like cavities or no-structure	Human bone marrow	In vitro	MSCs on grid-like structure had enhanced secretion levels of PGE-2 and IL-1RA	[116]
Biochemistry	HA with different molecular weights: 1.6 MDa, 150 kDa, or 7.5 kDa	Human bone marrow	In vitro	Molecular weight of HA had negligible effect on MSC expression levels of immune modulators	[117]
Micro-structure	Type-I collagen hydrogel, sponge and membrane	Neonatal rabbit bone marrow	In vitro	MSCs in a hydrogel that has the smallest pore size showed the greatest suppressive effect on the proliferation of PBMCs	[118]