Fig. 1: Unveiling the role and mechanism of NPVF in mediating crosstalk between the brain and bone and application of self-assembling NPVF-containing protein coatings for in vivo bone defect repair.
From: Application of the neuropeptide NPVF to enhance angiogenesis and osteogenesis in bone regeneration
a Schematic image depicting the promoting effect of the neuropeptide NPVF on both angiogenesis and osteogenesis. NPVF is an eight-amino acid neuropeptide secreted by the human hypothalamus, and it regulates various physiological processes including bone homeostasis maintenance by activating its Gi/o protein-coupled receptor located in the nervous system (left panel). The amino acid sequence of NPVF is presented in the upper box. The right panel shows the signaling pathway by which NPVF promotes osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs and vascularization of HUVECs. NPVF binds preferentially to NPFFR1 in the central nervous system, promotes angiogenesis of HUVECs via the miR-181c-3p/AGO1 pathway, and mediates osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs via the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. b Illustration of bone fracture repair through the implantation of a CsgA-NPVF nanofiber-coated porous hydroxyapatite scaffold in a rat calvarial defect model. The CsgA amyloid can self-assemble into nanofibers to form a robust proteinaceous coating on the surface of given substrate. Coupling the coat-forming property of CsgA with NPVF induced new bone formation. Displaying the engineered CsgA-NPVF functional nanofibers on the HAp scaffold substantially facilitated bone regeneration. The right panel shows the simulated structure of the CsgA-NPVF monomer revealed by molecular dynamics simulations.
