Zhang Xixiang, Han Fangfei, Syed Ahad, Bukhari Ebtihaj M, Siang Basil Chew Joo, Yang Shan, Zhou Bingpu, Wen Wei-Jia, Jiang Dechen
Physical Sciences and Engineering Division (PSE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210093, People's Republic of China.
Biomed Microdevices. 2017 Sep;19(3):53. doi: 10.1007/s10544-017-0187-y.
Three-dimensional (3D) in vitro scaffolds that mimic the irregular fibrous structures of in vivo extracellular matrix (ECM) are critical for many important biological applications. However, structural properties modulation of fibrous 3D scaffolds remains a challenge. Here, we report the first highly modulable 3D fibrous scaffolds self-assembled by high-aspect-ratio (HAR) microfibers. The scaffolds structural properties can be easily tailored to incorporate various physical cues, including geometry, stiffness, heterogeneity and nanotopography. Moreover, the fibrous scaffolds are readily and accurately patterned on desired locations of the substrate. Cell culture exhibits that our scaffolds can elicit strong bidirectional cell-material interactions. Furthermore, a functional disparity between the two-dimensional substrate and our 3D scaffolds is identified by cell spreading and proliferation data. These results prove the potential of the proposed scaffold as a biomimetic extracellular microenvironment for cell study.
模拟体内细胞外基质（ECM）不规则纤维结构的三维（3D）体外支架对于许多重要的生物学应用至关重要。然而，纤维状3D支架的结构特性调节仍然是一个挑战。在此，我们报道了首例由高长径比（HAR）微纤维自组装而成的高度可调节3D纤维支架。该支架的结构特性能够轻松定制，以纳入各种物理线索，包括几何形状、刚度、异质性和纳米拓扑结构。此外，纤维支架能够在基底的所需位置上方便且精确地进行图案化。细胞培养显示，我们的支架能够引发强烈的双向细胞-材料相互作用。此外，通过细胞铺展和增殖数据确定了二维基底与我们的3D支架之间的功能差异。这些结果证明了所提出的支架作为用于细胞研究的仿生细胞外微环境的潜力。
