Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 107 W. Dean Keeton, 1 University Station C0800, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
J Neural Eng. 2013 Aug;10(4):046011. doi: 10.1088/1741-2560/10/4/046011. Epub 2013 Jul 10.
Electric field (EF) stimulation has been used to cue cell growth for tissue engineering applications. In this study, we explore the electrical parameters and extracellular mechanisms that elicit changes in cell behavior when stimulated through the substrate.
Rat Schwann cell morphology was compared when exposed to EF through the media or a conductive indium tin oxide substrate. Ionic and structural effects were then analyzed on Matrigel and collagen I, respectively.
When stimulating through media, cells had greater alignment perpendicular to the EF with higher current densities (106 mA cm(-2) at 245 mV mm(-1)), and reached maximum alignment within 8 h. Stimulation through the substrate with EF (up to 110 mV mm(-1)) did not affect Schwann cell orientation, however the EF caused extracellular matrix (ECM) coatings on substrates to peel away, suggesting EF can physically change the ECM. Applying alternating current (ac) 2-1000 Hz signals through the media or substrate both caused cells to flatten and protrude many processes, without preferential alignment. Matrigel exposed to a substrate EF of 10 mV mm(-1) for 2 h had a greater calcium concentration near the cathode, but quickly dissipated when the EF was removed. Schwann cells seeded 7 d after gels were exposed to substrate EF still aligned perpendicular to the EF direction. Microscopy of collagen I exposed to substrate EF shows alignment and bundling of fibrils.
These findings demonstrate EF exposure can control Schwann cell alignment and morphology, change ECM bulk/surface architecture, and align ECM structures.
电场（EF）刺激已被用于提示细胞生长，以用于组织工程应用。在这项研究中，我们探讨了在通过基质刺激时引起细胞行为变化的电参数和细胞外机制。
比较了在通过介质或导电铟锡氧化物（ITO）衬底暴露于 EF 时大鼠雪旺细胞的形态。然后分别分析了在 Matrigel 和胶原蛋白 I 上的离子和结构效应。
当通过介质进行刺激时，细胞以更高的电流密度（245 mV mm（-1）时为 106 mA cm（-2））更垂直于 EF 排列，并且在 8 h 内达到最大对齐。通过 EF（最高可达 110 mV mm（-1））刺激衬底不会影响雪旺细胞的取向，但是 EF 会导致衬底上的细胞外基质（ECM）涂层剥落，表明 EF 可以物理改变 ECM。通过介质或衬底施加 2-1000 Hz 的交流（ac）信号会导致细胞变平并突出许多突起，而没有优先取向。在 10 mV mm（-1）的衬底 EF 下暴露 2 h 的 Matrigel 靠近阴极的钙浓度更高，但 EF 去除后迅速消散。在凝胶暴露于衬底 EF 7 天后接种的雪旺细胞仍垂直于 EF 方向排列。在暴露于衬底 EF 的胶原蛋白 I 的显微镜下观察到纤维的排列和束状。
这些发现表明 EF 暴露可以控制雪旺细胞的取向和形态，改变 ECM 的整体/表面结构，并对齐 ECM 结构。
