TY - JOUR
T1 - Improved cell infiltration of electrospun nanofiber mats for layered tissue constructs
AU - Mahjour, Seyed Babak
AU - Sefat, Farshid
AU - Polunin, Yevgeniy
AU - Wang, Lichen
AU - Wang, Hongjun
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PY - 2016/6/1
Y1 - 2016/6/1
N2 - While achieving the spatial organization of cells within 3D assembled nanofiber/cell constructs via nanofiber-enabled cell layering, the small sizes of inter-fiber pores of the electrospun nanofiber mats could significantly limit cell penetration across the layers for rapid formation of an integrated tissue construct. To address this challenge, efforts were made to improve cell-infiltration of electrospun nanofiber mats by modulating the density distribution and spatial organization of the fibers during electrospinning. Collection of collagen-containing electrospun nanofibers (300-600 nm in diameter) onto the surface of a stainless steel metal mesh (1 mm × 1 mm in mesh size) led to the periodic alternation of fiber density from densely packed to loosely arranged distribution within the same mat, in which the densely packed fibers maintained the structural integrity while the region of loose fibers allowed for cell penetration. Along with improved cell infiltration, the distinct fiber organization between dense and loose fiber regions also induced different morphology of fibroblasts (stellate vs. elongated spindle-like). Assembly of cell-seeded nanofiber sheets into 3D constructs with such periodically organized nanofiber mats further demonstrated their advantages in improving cell penetration across layers in comparison to either random or aligned nanofiber mats. Taken together, modulation of nanofiber density to enlarge the pore size is effective to improve cell infiltration through electrospun mats for better tissue formation.
AB - While achieving the spatial organization of cells within 3D assembled nanofiber/cell constructs via nanofiber-enabled cell layering, the small sizes of inter-fiber pores of the electrospun nanofiber mats could significantly limit cell penetration across the layers for rapid formation of an integrated tissue construct. To address this challenge, efforts were made to improve cell-infiltration of electrospun nanofiber mats by modulating the density distribution and spatial organization of the fibers during electrospinning. Collection of collagen-containing electrospun nanofibers (300-600 nm in diameter) onto the surface of a stainless steel metal mesh (1 mm × 1 mm in mesh size) led to the periodic alternation of fiber density from densely packed to loosely arranged distribution within the same mat, in which the densely packed fibers maintained the structural integrity while the region of loose fibers allowed for cell penetration. Along with improved cell infiltration, the distinct fiber organization between dense and loose fiber regions also induced different morphology of fibroblasts (stellate vs. elongated spindle-like). Assembly of cell-seeded nanofiber sheets into 3D constructs with such periodically organized nanofiber mats further demonstrated their advantages in improving cell penetration across layers in comparison to either random or aligned nanofiber mats. Taken together, modulation of nanofiber density to enlarge the pore size is effective to improve cell infiltration through electrospun mats for better tissue formation.
KW - cell infiltration
KW - collagen
KW - layered tissue constructs
KW - nanofibers
KW - polycaprolactone (PCL)
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U2 - 10.1002/jbm.a.35676
DO - 10.1002/jbm.a.35676
M3 - Article
C2 - 26845076
AN - SCOPUS:84969404295
SN - 1549-3296
VL - 104
SP - 1479
EP - 1488
JO - Journal of Biomedical Materials Research - Part A
JF - Journal of Biomedical Materials Research - Part A
IS - 6
ER -