The influence of platelet-rich plasma on myogenic differentiation Michael J. McClure 1,2 * , Koyal Garg 2 , David G. Simpson 3 , John J. Ryan 4 , Scott A. Sell 5 , Gary L. Bowlin 2 and Jeffery J. Ericksen 1 1 Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service, Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center, Richmond, VA, USA 2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA 3 Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA 4 Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA 5 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA Abstract The ability to expand and direct both precursor and stem cells towards a differential fate is considered extremely advantageous in tissue engineering. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) possesses a milieu of growth factors and cytokines, which have the potential to have either a differentiative or proliferative influence on the cell type tested. Here, we investigated the effect of PRP on C2C12 myoblasts. A range of PRP concentrations in differentiation media was used to determine whether a concentration dependence existed, while PRP embedded in fibres of aligned electrospun polydioxanone and polycaprolactone was used to determine whether this presence of fibres would cause any differences in response. In both cases, it was found that late myogenic markers were suppressed after 7days in culture. However, an early differentiation marker, MyoD, was upregulated during this same time period. The results from this study represent the ability of PRP to have an influence over both myogenic proliferation and differentiation, a factor which could prove useful in future studies involved with skeletal muscle tissue engineering. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Received 20 December 2012; Revised 4 March 2013; Accepted 25 March 2013 Keywords myoblasts; electrospinning; growth factor; scaffold 1. Introduction The signature wound of current US military conflicts is that caused by blast and fragmentation. Projectile, thermal and blast mechanisms combine to create polytraumatic wounds that are diffuse, heterogeneous and extensive, often involv- ing multiple organ systems in the polytrauma condition (Baechler et al., 2010). Survivors of these injuries are commonplace among combat wounded members of the Armed Forces. As such, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have the potential to play a major role in their rehabilitation, as well as improving quality of life. Assisting and enhancing the body’s own reparative processes while accelerating the healing process through the use of growth factors would be paramount. (Table T1 1 Q1 ) Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is a method for collecting and concentrating autologous platelets for the purpose of activating and releasing their growth factor- rich a- and dense granules. The discharge of these concentrated granules releases a number of growth factors in physiologically relevant ratios, which are critical to tissue regeneration, cellular recruitment and angiogenesis. These factors include platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor-b (TGFb), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), stromal derived growth factor-a (SDF-1a), tumour necrosis factor-a (TNFa) and others (Alsousou et al., 2009; Creaney and Hamilton, 2008; El-Sharkawy et al., 2007; Everts et al., 2006; Foster et al., 2009; Rozman and Bolta, 2007; Sanchez et al., 2009). PRP therapy is currently in use clinically to stimulate tissue growth and regeneration and has been demonstrated to be effective in accelerating repair in osteochondral defects (Alsousou et al., 2009; Anitua et al., 2008b; Foster et al., 2009), tendon/ligament *Correspondence to: M. J. McClure, Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Hospital, 1201 East Broad Rock Boulevard, Richmond, VA 23224, USA. E-mail: Mccluremj2@vcu.edu; Michael.McClure4@va.gov Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. JOURNAL OF TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE RESEARCH ARTICLE J Tissue Eng Regen Med (2013) Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/term.1755 Journal Code Article ID Dispatch: 23.05.13 CE: T E R M 1 7 5 5 No. of Pages: 11 ME: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128