Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, 380 North-South Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Regen Med. 2012 Sep;7(5):649-61. doi: 10.2217/rme.12.48.
Modulating endothelial cell (EC) morphology and motility, with the aim to influence their biology, might be beneficial for the treatment of vascular disease. We examined the effect of nanoscale matrix anisotropy on EC organization and migration for vascular tissue engineering applications.
MATERIALS & METHODS: We developed a flow processing technique to generate anisotropic nanofibrillar collagen. Human ECs were cultured on aligned or on randomly oriented collagen, and their cellular alignment and cytoskeletal organization were characterized by immunofluorescence staining and time-lapse microscopy.
ECs were elongated along the direction of aligned collagen nanofibrils and had organized focal adhesions. Cellular protrusion migrated with greater directionality and higher velocity along the anisotropic nanofibrils compared with cells on random nanofibrils. The flow technique can be adapted to fabricate vascular grafts that support the endothelial phenotype.
Aligned nanofibrillar collagen regulates EC organization and migration, which can significantly contribute to the development of vascular grafts.
调节内皮细胞(EC)的形态和运动,以影响其生物学特性,可能有益于血管疾病的治疗。我们研究了纳米级基质各向异性对 EC 组织和迁移的影响,以应用于血管组织工程。
我们开发了一种流动处理技术来产生各向异性的纳米纤维胶原。将人 EC 培养在定向或随机取向的胶原上,并通过免疫荧光染色和延时显微镜观察细胞的取向和细胞骨架组织。
EC 沿着定向胶原纳米纤维的方向伸长,并形成了有组织的粘着斑。与在随机纳米纤维上的细胞相比,细胞突起沿着各向异性的纳米纤维以更高的方向性和速度迁移。该流动技术可用于制造支持内皮表型的血管移植物。
定向纳米纤维胶原调节 EC 的组织和迁移,这对血管移植物的发展有重要贡献。